Privacy Policy & Appropriate Content

Student privacy and safety. All parents/guardians must provide consent forms for students (under the age of 18) to participate and to release some limited, personally identifiable student information publicly. Entrants are encouraged to use good judgement about what may be shared publicly, and parents, teachers, and advisors are asked to assist by monitoring identifying personal information shared by students in parts of entries that may be posted publicly (full names, school, social media handles, etc.) Additionally, entries containing images, video, or stories of people or organizations other than students participating in the contest MUST contain written consent from additional parties and include this consent with their entry form.

All entries must contain appropriate content – Content that is aimed to defame, marginalize, discriminate, demean, or infringe on the human dignity of others, living or deceased, is not permitted. Explicit language, violence, hate speech, or sexual content are not permitted in entries. 

Most related to this contest, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Xenophobia can be especially insidious, presenting in subtle, but harmful ways. The Henry Pestka Art & Poetry Contest is designed for students who are completing Michigan state education requirements for Holocaust and Genocide Education and enables them the opportunity to process and reflect on the concepts they learned through writing or art. Whether intentional or unintentional, entries determined to be in violation of these policies  will be disqualified and are not subject to appeal or review.

Original Work & AI Policy Content

All submitted writing and art projects must be solely the creation of the students’ original thoughts, ideas, expressions, words, reflections and artistic expressions. Plagiarism, a serious academic offense, includes copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit, the failure to put quotation marks around unmodified content that was copied from an outside source, and the use of photos, graphs, charts, or other images without acknowledging their source.

Additionally, all submitted writing and art projects must be solely the entrant’s original work, and MAY NOT, even partially, originate from AI generation, AI tools, or AI generated sources. This includes, but is not limited to, project components such as images, designs, phrases or summaries from AI platforms, tools, software, filters, libraries, etc. Whether intentional or unintentional, entries determined to be in violation of the Original Work & AI Policy will be disqualified and are not subject to appeal or review.

PARENT/GUARDIAN PERMISSION

is required for every participant under the age of 18.

MEDIA RELEASE AGREEMENT with WGVU Public Media, WGVU-TV, WGVK-TV, WGVU-FM, WGVS-AM/FM, WGVU.ORG, WGVUNEWS.ORG; The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation and Museum; Grand Valley State University, GVSU Kaufman Interfaith Institute, and GVSU Art Gallery; The Jewish Federation of Grand Rapids; ADL Michigan; Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids Public Museum, Michigan Rwandan Community Association, and Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. 

In consideration of my/my child’s participation in the Henry Pestka Art and Poetry Contest: I hereby authorize you to use and to record, on digital media, audio/videotape, print or otherwise my/my child’s name, grade, project, and likeness. In relation to the services mentioned above, I authorize above mentioned Contest partner organizations to use these as part of the publicizing and promotion of the Contest for broadcast, educational, business, streaming, social media and distribution services (known and unknown). Additionally, I agree to the above conditions without monetary or any other form of compensation, now and in the future.

Judging, Awards & Notification

All entries submitted will be judged using the judging criteria below by a panel of judges organized through The Partnership. Identifying information will be redacted during the judging process to increase impartiality and members of The Partnership with direct or close proximity to student entries will not be permitted to judge entries. The ten entries with the highest percentage in each grade will be deemed as finalists for their respective grade. Judging for each grade will occur on the dates as set forth by The Partnership. The judging criteria and percentages used by any judging in connection with The Contest shall be scored and graded using the rubric within this document.

All decisions of the judges are final and binding and not subject to appeal or review. In the event of any ties, to determine the highest percentage finalists, the entry with the highest score in creativity and originality category from among all tying entries will be deemed the finalist. Finalists’ entries may be posted on The Contest website at wgvu.org/pestka.

 Culminating Event & Prizes

Finalists will be notified on or about April 1, 2026. The top 10 Finalists from each grade will be invited to attend and be recognized at the Henry Pestka Awards Dinner (Event)** in May 2026. Finalists will be asked to arrange for their projects to be brought to a designated West Michigan Holocaust Partner location two weeks prior to the event to be curated and displayed in a gallery-style format.

Please note that eligibility for prizes is based on attendance at the Event – and all Finalists who attend will receive recognition and a gift. The top three finalists from each grade level will additionally qualify to receive a certificate and a cash award: First Place $150; Second Place $100; and Third Place $50 - generously provided by The Jewish Federation of Grand Rapids, Henry Pestka Holocaust Memorial Endowment Fund. Prizes/gifts are not redeemable for cash, non-transferable, and non-substitutable, except at the sole discretion of The Partnership. ** The Partnership reserves the option to modify/cancel this event in compliance with state/regional group and event regulations.

 Have questions? We’re happy to help!

To connect with a WGVU Education Team member,

please e-mail education@wgvu.org or call 616.331.6666.