Thomas Student Selected for #USvsHate Contest

Thomas Middle School Student Selected as Winner of #USvsHate Art Contest
Posted on 03/07/2022
Photo of student on stairs and artwork that features the following text: #USvsHate All we want is Equality Stop! Xenophobia! I am NOT a virus!! Stop Asian Hate! Black Lives MatterThomas Middle School seventh grader Ivonne Berrios-Rodriguez was selected as a winner of the national #USvsHate winter 2021 art contest. She is one of 10 winners whose artwork is featured on the #USvsHate website.

The contest asked students to submit a creative anti-hate message that successfully communicates the #USvsHate values of inclusion and justice for all.

Ivonne’s artwork is titled “All we want is Equality.” She was inspired by events unfolding in the United States in the spring and summer of 2020.

“I thought of my project as a bunch of fists coming together to say that we shouldn’t hate people who had done nothing wrong,” she said. “It just confuses me how someone can dislike another person just because of their skin color or sexuality/gender identity.”

Ivonne considers herself to be a creative person and was excited about the #USvsHate contest because it was a chance to meld her creativity with social justice issues she is passionate about.

This is the second consecutive year a Thomas student has been selected as a winner of the #USvsHate contest.