Tucked away amongst historic manuscripts and founding documents in the Library of Congress is a small collection of recent publications, collectively penned by approximately 60 middle school students per year from throughout the United States. The books are full of essays featuring personal reflections on the impact of violence on their lives and their communities.
Every year, the National Campaign to Stop Violence sponsors Do The Write Thing, a program where junior high students share their perspectives on violence. Submissions are collected and judged in cities throughout the country, with two students eventually selected from each participating city to be national ambassadors and have their work included as part of that year’s collection.
The 2024 edition includes an essay from Lucas Balkey, now a freshman at Woodland Hills High School. Balkey was one of two students from the Pittsburgh area to be chosen as a national ambassador and invited on an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C. in July. A trip to the Library of Congress, with his essay now part of the library’s vast collection, was the highlight of the trip.
“That was a really cool experience. That might be my favorite part,” Balkey said.
Woodland Hills has a long history of participating in Do The Write Thing, and Dickson Preparatory STEAM Academy English teacher Ms. Heidi Walter includes it as an annual assignment.
“It’s a class assignment, but she encouraged everyone to try to really put forth an effort and see where it might take them,” Balkey said.
Sponsored locally by the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, Family Court Division and overseen by Judge Dwayne D. Woodruff and his wife, Joy Maxberry Woodruff, a team of judges review the student submissions from participating schools to select a handful of finalists. The top student writers from each participating school are honored at a dinner hosted by Duquesne University every April.
Balkey was invited to the dinner as a seventh grader, and while he wasn’t selected as a national ambassador at the time, it was a pivotal moment for him.
“Hearing what the people who won wrote gave me an idea of what a winning essay looks or sounds like,” Balkey said. “Ms. Walter has had someone win it in the past, so I kind of came in having more of an idea of what I was going to write.”
When it came time to submit an essay as an eighth grader, Balkey focused on how inequality can foster gun violence.
“I wrote a lot about how gun violence impacts our communities and how a lot of it comes from racism and discrimination,” he said. “People aren’t being treated the same way and getting the same opportunities, and that is one of the strong things that leads to people resorting to violence.”
The selection process includes a round of interviews with local judges at the county courthouse. Being questioned by a handful of judges is “kind of intimidating,” Balkey said, but it went smoother than he anticipated. Balkey and Jasmine Eddens from Manchester Academy Charter School were selected as the national ambassadors at the honorary dinner in April.
“I'm really proud of myself and proud for Woodland Hills, as well, being able to represent our school at that level,” Balkey said. “Being able to be part of something like that really means a lot.”
He and mother, Jennifer, joined the other national ambassadors and their parents and guardians in D.C. in July. The multi-day trip included workshops and sessions where he could meet with fellow student ambassadors from far-flung states like Hawaii and Montana, had dinner at the Kuwait Ambassador’s residence, met with representatives from the offices of Senator Bob Casey and Senator John Fetterman, visited to the Supreme Court – where several ambassadors were asked to read their essays to a room full of clerks for the justices, and explored the sights around D.C.
Balkey said that the organizers regularly returned to a theme that emphasized the impact words can have on a person.
“That’s something that a lot of people don’t realize, how much your words can impact someone else in a positive or a negative way,” he said. “That was kind of eye opening to see what they had to say.”
Roughly a month after his trip to D.C., Balkey began freshman year at Woodland Hills High School. He plays the snare drum in the marching band, runs cross country, and will compete in track in the spring. He’s unsure about a writing career, but he wants to continue to raise awareness about issues like violence and find ways to be active in the community.
“Even just talking to someone who's going through a hard time or something like that can make a bigger difference than it may seem,” Balkey said. “Like they said at the conference, your words mean a lot. I think just being good friends and talking to people to raise awareness is important.”
In a few weeks, current Dickson seventh and eighth graders will pen their own essays for the Do The Write Thing Challenge. Balkey said their words should come from the heart.
“Mean what you write and write something meaningful,” he said. “It’s one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had and it would be a great experience for others as well.”
