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11th October 2006

Jade's poem against racism scoops prestige art award

A powerful poem by a Glasgow teenager has won a major competition about race relations.

Jade Love, 14, took the Scotland Creative Writing award at Arts & Minds which is organised by the teaching union NASUWT.

The contest encourages pupils and schools to use creative writing and art to express their feelings about cultural diversity.

Jade from Whitehill School in Dennistoun, Glasgow, beat hundreds of entries from across the country with her piece entitled Life.

Peter Henshaw, one of the judges, said: "This is one of the best poems we judged. It is really, really good, very powerful and impressed all of us.

"We liked the way it starts from kids staring at someone because of their skin, which is something we are trying to fight against. It then leads slowly to violence and eventually death.

"The build-up in the poem is very intense and provides the necessary shock. It illustrates perfectly how petty racism, if you ignore it, can become very serious.

"The judges were all impressed with this particular entry."

The school won £450 as part of the prize and Jade received a gift card for WH Smith.

Source: The Evening Times