11 Utah students will be honored

The Utah Board of Juvenile Justice will honor 11 middle-school students this week for their anti-violence entries in the ninth annual "Do the Write Thing" Challenge.

The awards luncheon will be held at the Governor's Mansion from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday.

The national event, sponsored in part by the Kuwait-America Foundation, is an opportunity for seventh- and eighth-grade students to write about how violence has affected their lives and how to prevent violence in the community.

More than 1,550 students throughout the state participated in classroom discussions about teen violence, and more than 770 students submitted essays into the competition.

The two top writers in the state will be recognized with other finalists at the "Do the Write Thing" National Recognition Ceremony in Washington, D.C., in July.

Utah's 11 finalists are Braden Bronson and Zack Dougher of Fort Herriman Middle School, Herriman; Sage Eastburn, Mira Reynolds and Hannah Wilkey of Highland Junior High, Ogden; Skye Mooney and Jackie Scheider of Treasure Mountain Middle School, Park City; Kyler Nielson, Emily Wade and Devan Webb of Desert Hills Middle School, St. George; and Mauricio Robles of Northwest Middle School, Salt Lake City.