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Pictured above are the organizers and winners of the Jane Addams Day 2014 Essay Contest. In the front row, from left, are Amy Bevins (WIU Women’s Center Social Work volunteer), Annabelle Clark (third place), Joey Trost (second place) and Betsy Roiland (Women’s Center RPTA volunteer). In the back row, from left, are Dana Isackson (Macomb Junior High School principal), Janine Cavicchia (director of WIU’s Women’s Center) and Brock Bainter (Macomb Jr. High eighth grade social studies teacher). Not pictured: Clara Barclay – first place winner.
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WIU Celebrates Jane Addams Day

December 10, 2014

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MACOMB, IL - Three Macomb Junior High School students were named winners of an essay contest sponsored by Western Illinois University's Women's Center and Department of Social Work in honor of the state's eighth annual Jane Addams Day Dec. 10.

The contest asked local junior high students to submit a 500-word essay on how Addams made a difference in American society. The winners were Clara Barclay, first place; Joey Trost, second place and Annabelle Clark, third place. All of the winners are students in Brock Bainter's junior high social studies class.
Judges for this year's contest were Women's Center volunteers Amy Bevins, of Brimfield, IL, a senior social work major and Betsy Roiland, of Palatine, IL, a senior recreation, park and tourism administration major.

In 2006, Governor Rod Blagojevich signed legislation proclaiming Dec. 10 as Jane Addams Day. On that date in 1931, Addams became the first American woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Peace, honoring her work as the leader of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

According to WIU Women's Center Director Janine Cavicchia, Addams was a social reformer and was instrumental in the establishment of the social work field.

"We're pleased that Mr. Bainter encourages his students to enter this contest as part of their social studies curriculum. It's a great way for the students to learn about the significant impact she had on our society and write essays about how her work is still important today," Cavicchia said.

Addams, who was born in Cedarville, IL, was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She also founded Hull House, which became an internationally-famous settlement house that initiated the development of the social work profession through its programs to enhance health, literacy, workplace safety, education, justice for children, outreach to oppressed immigrant groups and social investigations.

For more information about the WIU Women's Center, visit wiu.edu/womenscenter.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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