Feb 4, 2016 By The 3 min read

Officials of the East End United Community Center in Uniontown are offering a way for elementary and middle school students to use their creative skills to celebrate Black History Month.

The center will offer a poster contest for elementary school students and a poetry contest for middle school students. The contests both offer prizes for the top three submissions.

“The East End United Community Center has been nurtured for over 40 years by the rich African-American cultural history and community of the East End of Uniontown, which has in turn enabled it to provide programs and services to those in need,” said Matthew Crutchman, executive director of the center.

Open to all local elementary students, the theme of the poster contest is “If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else,” a quote from Booker T. Washington.

All posters must be created on 8 1/2″ x 14″ paper. Students can use crayons, markers and/or colored pencils only. All posters must follow the theme and include a name and phone number on the back.

Local middle school students participating in the poetry contest will work around the theme of the Maya Angelou quote, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Poems must be typed, have a title and include a name and phone number on the back.

Submissions for both contests can be sent to the center at: 150 Coolspring Street, Uniontown, Pa. 15401.

Poems will be judged by Dr. Raina J. Leòn, a Cave Canem graduate fellow, CantoMundo fellow and member of the Carolina African-American Writers Collective. Her collections of poetry include “Canticle of Idols,” “Boogeyman Dawn” and “sombra: (dis)locate” (February 2016). She is a founding editor of The Acentos Review, an online quarterly devoted to the promotion and publication of LatinX arts. She is an associate professor of education at Saint Mary’s College of California.

Winners will receive a $25 gift card for first place for both the poster and poetry contests. A $20 gift card will be awarded to second place for each contest, and students who place third will each receive a $15 gift card.

Posters and poems will be on display at the East End Community Center after the contest.

“The national celebration of Black History Month is an excellent opportunity to display the heritage and talents of the local youth through a poetry and poster contest aimed at recognizing great African-Americans within our country and our community,” said Crutchman. “The East End United Community Center supports the accomplishments of local African-Americans not only during February but all year long.”