LOS ANGELES — On June 16, the Manzanar Committee announced the winners of the Seventh Annual Sue Kunitomi Embrey Student Awards Program, named after the driving force behind the Manzanar Committee, the annual Manzanar Pilgrimage, and the creation of the Manzanar National Historic Site.
“Sue was a teacher, an activist, and a labor union organizer,” said Manzanar Committee member Janet Fujii. “She was instrumental in organizing the annual Manzanar Pilgrimage, as a means to ensure that this shameful, ugly chapter in American History is never forgotten, and she fought tirelessly to establish Manzanar as a National Historic Site. Those efforts, among so many others, made her a role model for so many, especially younger Japanese Americans.”
“Her life demonstrated how a principled person of vision can impact the world,” added Fujii. “Sue was a fitting inspiration for young students, and even though she has left us, her life continues to be equally inspirational.”
Through written word, visual arts projects, and technology, and electronic media presentations, winning students focused on their efforts to promote social justice and civil rights, the reality of American concentration camps during World War II, comparisons between the experiences of Japanese Americans during World War II and current immigrant issues, the history of discrimination against Asian Americans in the past and Anti-Asian violence today, and the struggles when constitutional rights are threatened.
Seventh Annual Sue Kunitomi Embrey Student Awards Program Winners
Pre-K-Kindergarten Written Work
- First Place: Adry Rios (Craig Williams Elementary, Bellflower Unified School District)
- Second Place: Remmie Rangel (Craig Williams Elementary, Bellflower USD)
Pre-K-Kindergarten Visual Arts
- First Place: Myla Elmore (Playa Vista Elementary, Los Angeles Unified School District)
- Second Place: Skyler Sardo (Playa Vista Elementary, LAUSD)
- Third Place: Sienna P. (Playa Vista Elementary, LAUSD)
First-Second Grade Written Work
- First Place: Sadie Mizrahi (Playa Vista Elementary, LAUSD)
- Second Place: Maddox Lee (Playa Vista Elementary, LAUSD)
- Second Place: Penelope Sadao (Playa Vista Elementary, LAUSD)
Third-Fifth Grade Written Work
- First Place: Danica Tan (Castelar Elementary, LAUSD)
- First Place: Arianna Wilms (Castelar Elementary, LAUSD)
- Second Place: Elizabeth Sou-Sok (Castelar Elementary, LAUSD)
- Third Place: Marlo Tanimoto (Playa Vista Elementary, LAUSD)
- Third Place: Cora Lee (Playa Vista Elementary, LAUSD)
- Third Place: Trent Martin (Playa Vista Elementary, LAUSD)
- Honorable Mention: Lily Galvin (Playa Vista Elementary, LAUSD)
Third-Fifth Grade: Technology/Electronic Media
- Second Place: Carlos Castro (Nixon Elementary, ABC Unified School District)
Sixth-Eighth Grade: Technology/Electronic Media
- First Place: Vanessa Ejike (Whitney Middle School, ABCUSD)
- First Place: Isabella Castro (Tetzlaff Middle School, ABCUSD)
- First Place: Audrey Vega (Whitney Middle School, ABCUSD)
Ninth-Twelfth Grades: Written Work
- First Place: Sara Omura (Whitney High School, ABCUSD)
- Second Place: Monicka Manni (Whitney High School, ABCUSD)
Ninth-Twelfth Grades: Visual Arts
- First Place: Tyler Higuchi (Redondo Union High School, Redondo Union USD)
“Thank you to the sponsoring teachers, administrators and parents for guidance and support of our winners,” said Fujii.
For more information about the Sue Kunitomi Embrey Student Awards Program, go to https://manzanarcommittee.org/student-awards-program, send e-mail to ske-awards@manzanarcommittee.org, or call (562) 260-3502.
The Manzanar Committee is dedicated to educating and raising public awareness about the incarceration and violation of civil rights of persons of Japanese ancestry during World War II and to the continuing struggle of all peoples when Constitutional rights are in danger. A non-profit organization that has sponsored the annual Manzanar Pilgrimage since 1969, along with other educational programs, the Manzanar Committee has also played a key role in the establishment and continued development of the Manzanar National Historic Site. For more information, check out our web site at https://manzanarcommittee.org, call us at (323) 662-5102, or e-mail us at info@manzanarcommittee.org. You can also follow the Manzanar Committee on Facebook, on Twitter at @manzanarcomm, on Instagram at @manzanarcommittee, on Pinterest and on YouTube.
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LEAD PHOTO: Sue Kunitomi Embrey, shown here addressiiing the crowd during the Manzanar Pilgrimage. Manzanar Committee photo.
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