South End Citizen 9-4-2019

Study: Many Employers Planning to Increase Investments in Employee Health and Wellness — Page 3

Citizen Week of Sept. 4, 2019

| Vol. 52 | No. 30 | www.thechicagocitizen.com

SOUTH END

Miyoshi Knox (center), principal of Stagg School of Excellence in Englewood, recently received the LEAP Leader Award at the 2019 LEAP InnovatED Summit. Photo Credit: Ryan Moore Photography

SOUTH SIDE PRINCIPAL HONORED WITH LEADERSHIP AWARD FOR IMPLEMENTING PERSONALIZED LEARNING Principal Miyoshi Knox from Stagg School of Excellence in Englewood was recently honored with the 2019 LEAP Leader Award at the annual LEAP InnovatED Summit hosted by LEAP Innovations. The LEAP Leader Award is given to an educator who has been recognized as a catalyst for change in their school and taken a leadership role in incorporating personalized learning. PAGE 2

NEWS

New Creative Arts School Welcomes First Class Of Students PAGE 2

NEWS

Collins and Flowers’ plan to fight maternal and infant mortality signed into law

BUSINESS

Half Of Working Americans Would Lie About Cell Reception And Wi-Fi Access To Avoid Work Calls And Email On Vacation PAGE 4

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REAL ESTATE

Check out our real estate listings for important foreclosure information PAGES 8-11

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2 | CITIZEN | South End | Week of Sept. 4, 2019

NEWS briefly EDUCATION

EDUCATORS TO ENTREPRENEURS; IT’S NOT BACK TO SCHOOL FOR EVERYONE Nineteen to thirty percent of educators leave the teaching profession within the first five years, according to the Starz Program, which is helping to turn educators into entrepreneurs. A children’s fitness and education program that promotes a healthy lifestyle, motor skills development, and confidence-building for children, The Starz Program is offering professional educators a 10% discount on the initial franchise fee now through December 31st.

“We know educators are opting to leave the teaching profession in pursuit of business ownership. As such, we wanted to kick-off the school year with an offer that gives educators or former educators the ability to follow their dreams of owning and running their own business,” said Sophia Z. Wastler, the program’s founder who’s also a former teacher.

“Teachers often make the best entrepreneurs because they are professional, organized, and passionate about helping. Most are also personable as they have to keep their student’s attention with stimulating lessons as well as interact with parents and the community, Wastler added. For more information, visit www.Starzfranchise.com.

HEALTH

BLACK CARDIOLOGISTS DISCUSS, ADDRESS CHICAGO’S BARRIERS TO CARDIOVASCULAR CARE Despite advanced therapies and new treatment options for patients with, or at risk for cardiovascular disease, access remains a challenge for underserved and minority patient populations. The Spirit of the Heart Community Leaders’ Forum, the first in a national series of forums and health fairs sponsored by the Association of Black Cardiologists, was held at Imani Village, 901 E. 95th Street.

The forum was an invitation-only discussion about local healthcare disparities and steps for improving access to cardiovascular and primary care on Chicago’s South Side, according to an Advocate Trinity Hospital news release. Participants discussed concerns of the community and took away actionable steps for reducing barriers to health care.

Community activists, church leaders, healthcare providers, healthcare industry leaders and Association of Black Cardiologist members joined a Town Hall led by Dr. Marlon Everett, a cardiologist with Advocate Trinity Hospital.

LAW & POLITICS

CHICAGO LAW FIRM RE-FILES NATIONWIDE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST THE MAKERS OF JUUL E-CIGARETTES A Chicago law firm has re-filed a nationwide class action lawsuit against the makers of JUUL e-cigarettes. Moll Law Group filed claims on behalf of teen addiction and injuries associated with nicotine ingestion, including a recent warning by the federal Food & Drug Administration (FDA) of the association between seizures and e-cigarettes.

According to the CDC, about 4.9 million middle and high school students were current users of a tobacco product in 2018, meaning that they used such products within the past 30 days.

This represents an increase of 1.3 million users just since 2017. According to a recent Wells Fargo report, JUUL owns three-quarters of the e-cigarette market.

South Side Principal Honored With Leadership Award For Implementing Personalized Learning Continued from page 1

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

Principal Miyoshi Knox from Stagg School of Excellence in Englewood was recently honored with the 2019 LEAP Leader Award at the annual LEAP InnovatED Summit hosted by LEAP Innovations. The LEAP Leader Award is given to an educator who has been recognized as a catalyst for change in their school and taken a leadership role in incorporating personalized learning.

LEAP Innovations is a national nonprofit organization headquartered in Chicago that connects innovation and education to transform how students learn. LEAP works with educators and innovators to discover, pilot, and scale innovative personalized learning practices and technologies, according to information provided by LEAP Innovations.

For the last eight years, Knox has been the principal of Stagg School of Excellence.

During that time, she adopted the LEAP Learning Framework and lead her team as they transformed the school into a personalized learning environment.

“For us here at Stagg, [personalized learning] is a way for students to have an opportunity to engage in their own learning in a meaningful and productive way. It is a way to increase student engagement, both cognitively and emotionally. We use personalized learning as an avenue,” said Knox.

Personalized learning helps the faculty at Stagg School of Excellence get to know the students and create a meaningful learning experience for them.

“Personalized learning to me is expanding our thinking about ways of new learning for our students,” said Knox.

Personalizing education creates learning experiences that are tailored to each student’s individual needs, strengths, and interests. This approach offers students the independence to guide their learning and develops leadership skills and critical thinking as they master new concepts. Since implementing personalized learning, Stagg School of Excellence has risen from a level 2+ school to a level 1 school, according to information provided by LEAP Innovations.

Stagg School of Excellence is located in

Englewood at 7424 S. Morgan St. and is made up of 388 students from grades pre-K through eighth. Of the 388 students, 94.6 percent are African American and 91.8 percent are low-income, according to information provided by Chicago Public Schools.

“We know, because we are here in this community, there’s a lot of trauma that’s happening and students are going through a lot,” said Knox who is also from Englewood.

To build student-teacher relationships and give students an outlet for their stress and trauma, the teachers pass out feeling cards every day where they can share what they are going through with their teacher and indicate if they need help.

“If the teacher is alerted that the student needs help right now, that teacher allows the students to take a cool down pass to go see the counselor or to work on some other kind of a social-emotional assignment, something where they are able to deal with their social and emotional needs first,” said Knox.

Building the strong student-teacher relationship is part of what has made personalized learning so successful at Stagg School of Excellence.

New Creative Arts School Welcomes First Class Of Students

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

Art in Motion (AIM), a new creative arts charter school in South Shore, recently welcomed its first class of students. The first class of students at AIM is made up of about 200 seventh-graders and eighth-graders from across the city.

AIM, located on 7415 S. East End Ave., is a unique concept in Chicago not only because it is a creative arts charter school, but because it also has no attendance boundary and requires no audition. The administration welcomes any student from any neighborhood with any level of experience in creative arts to apply for admission.

The first class at AIM is made up of seventh and eighth graders and the school will gradually add a grade every year until it reaches full capacity with about 900 students ranging from seventh to 12th grade. AIM will graduate its

first class of seniors in 2024.

“There’s so much happening, but I feel super excited and I have just a little bit of anxiety only because there is so much happening. I’m totally stoked and excited about the kids coming in and the parents. Making sure everything is right for them is really important,” said Kara May, principal of AIM. May said that it’s important to her that AIM makes an outstanding first impression on the incoming students and their families but more than that, she wants to make sure that the entire experience they have throughout their time at the school is good for them.

“First impressions are obviously really important but we have so much to offer and have done so much work for the kids that I just want it to be good and I want it to be right and I want it to feel right for them. I want the parents to be glad they took a chance with their kids and I want the teachers to be

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Art In Motion (AIM) is a new creative charter school on the south side of Chicago led by Principal Kara May (pictured) who recently welcomed the school’s first class of students on their first day. Photo Credit: Katherine Newman

glad they took a chance to come and work with us,” said May. The students at AIM are coming from across the city but several seats were reserved for local south side kids, including Charisma who just began her 7th grade year at AIM. Charisma said that she is beyond excited to start school at AIM and thinks that incorporating creative arts into her learning experience will help her succeed in the future.

“I have been doing this my whole life. I could sing before I

could talk, I could dance before I could walk, and I’ve been a model since I was 11 months old. This has been my whole life, basically,” said Charisma. “This is just a dream school and I thank the cofounders for their vision to open a school like this and for giving kids access to a brighter future.

I’m usually excited to go back to school, but I have never been this excited to go back. This is a dream come true.”

To learn more about AIM, visit www.aimchicago.org.

CITIZEN | South End | Week of Sept. 4, 2019

NEWS

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COMMENTARY

Study: More than Twice as Many Employers than 10 Years Ago are Planning to Increase Investments in Employee Health and Wellness More than 80% of employers said they are planning to increase their health and wellness budgets this year, more than double compared to 2009 (34%), according to the 10th annual Optum Wellness in the Workplace study.

The study also found that employers are increasingly embracing digital technology to engage workers in health and well-being programs. Since 2016, the proportion of employers using health-related mobile apps rose by 46%, with now close to three-quarters of respondents reporting that the apps helped increase employee participation. Also, the number of employers reporting that their employee wellness programs include the use of fitness or activity devices increased by nearly 40% over the same time period, with 71% of employers reporting successful engagement by their employees.

“Employers’ interest in well-designed, comprehensive health and wellness programs that use the latest digital tech has dramatically increased over the last decade,” said Seth Serxner, chief health officer at Optum. “We’ve also seen an evolution in the reasons for offering health and well-being programs with employers saying these initiatives are just as important in attracting and retaining employees as addressing health care costs.”

This is demonstrated in the latest survey findings, with more than twice as many employers responding that workplace well-being programs are more important to their employee benefits mix than they were

Eddie Bernice Johnson

A Fool’s Folly A recent study has found that more than 80% of employers say they are planning to increase their health and wellness budgets this year.

a decade ago (33% in 2009 to 77% in 2018).

While the percentage of employers saying they offer wellness programs to reduce long-term health care costs has stayed relatively steady over the last 10 years (around 80%), other factors are now viewed as equally important by employers: l 79% say they now offer wellness programs to improve absenteeism/presenteeism; l 78% use the programs to attract and retain talent; and l 76% say they use wellness programs to improve and maintain employee morale.

This year, the Optum study also asked employers about additional topics related to health and wellness programs that may indicate areas of emerging interest: l Mental and behavioral health is top-

of-mind for many. Eighty-four percent of employers are concerned about substance use disorder. Nearly 90% of employers say they are planning to address stigma surrounding mental health; a similar number are concerned about the level of access to behavioral health services. l In addition to behavioral health, 84% of employers plan to increase investments in women’s health services. The largest increases from 2016 to 2018 include programs addressing fertility, up 35 percentage points, and neonatal and first year of life, both up 27 percentage points. l Telemedicine was one of the fastest-growing health programs adopted by employers, with the proportion of employers reporting its usage increasing 171% since 2014.

Collins and Flowers’ plan to fight maternal and infant mortality signed into law In 2014, Illinois ranked 36th out of 50 states and Washington D.C. in infant mortality, with a rate of 6.6 infant deaths per 1,000 live births. California had the lowest infant mortality rate of 4.3 per 1,000 live births, and Alabama had the highest rate of 8.7 per 1,000 live births, according to the Illinois Infant Mortality Data Report published in 2018 by the Illinois Department of Public Health Office of Women’s Health and Family Services.

State Senator Jacqueline Collins recently issued a statement as Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law the remaining pieces of legislation in a plan by her and State Rep. Mary Flowers to reduce rising infant and maternal mortality rates.

“It’s fitting that this action comes the day after Black Women’s Equal Pay Day and mere days before Women’s Equality Day, because this is another stark reminder of how systemic bias harms not only women, but the many lives that a woman’s life touch-

es,” Collins said. “When women of color’s medical concerns are ignored, their families pay the price.”

House Bill 1, signed into law in July, creates a Task Force on Infant and Maternal Mortality Among African Americans.

House Bill 2 adds a host of maternal rights under the Medical Patients Rights Act, commonly called the Patient’s Bill of Rights.

Among them, the legislation calls for the right to care before, during and after childbirth; the right to choose a midwife or physician in a setting of her choosing; the right to full and clear information on the benefits, risks, and costs of treatment and medication; the right to accept or refuse treatment or procedures and to have her wishes honored; the right to hold her child after birth if there is no immediate medical emergency; and the right to her medical professionals’ respect and sensitivity, among others.

House Bill 3 requires a hospital’s quarterly “report card” to include instances of preterm

infants, infant mortality and maternal mortality, while also reporting racial and ethnic information about the infants’ mothers and the disparity of outcomes across different racial and ethnic groups.

House Bill 5 directs the Department of Human Services to ensure pregnant and postpartum mothers have access to substance use disorder services that are gender-responsive and trauma-informed.

House Bill 2438 provides for increased mental health care for mothers during pregnancy and postpartum.

“These measures are the first steps in what should be an urgent and ongoing effort to give all women power over their pregnancies,” Collins said. “I applaud the governor’s action today, and I call on everyone to be aware of the danger to new mothers. Change starts when we believe women.”

All measures are effective immediately with the exception of House Bill 2, which takes effect Jan. 1

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BY CONGRESSWOMAN EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (D-TX) Texas Metro News Columnist

The hundreds of thousands of distressed desperate women with babies, children and men from Central America, South America and Africa who journey thousands of miles from their countries, risking their lives and leaving those that they love behind to enter the United States for a new life, will not be stopped by a Southern border wall.

That belief is simply folly, or at worse, political rhetoric designed to win over emotional voters that can be easily manipulated during the election season by an administration whose life expectancy, many predict, will conclude in 2020.

Serious thinkers understand that a comprehensive federal immigration strategy and a working relationship with the leaders of nations such as Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, are critical to stem the tide of the massive numbers of migrants that are moving north.

Perhaps the president and those who help him to shape his immigration policy might consult with people such as the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, who recently suggested that migrants would remain in the country that he leads if there were sufficient employment and a safe environment.

President Bukele recently urged Washington to become his country’s partner in creative a massive jobs programs in El Salvador.

He said that he believes his government, with assistance from President Trump, could create nearly 400,000 jobs that do not exist today. Those jobs, President Bukele said, would discouraged Salvadorans from seeking a life in the United States, he added, saying “… if people have an opportunity for a decent job, a decent education, a decent health care system and security, I know that forceful migration will be reduced to zero.”

No one wants to leave their home. If the average person were to examine their own lives and found that they were jobless and fearful, they would search for a place where they could earn an income and raise their families in peace.

Isn’t that what the first settlers in this country did when they fled what they characterized was tyranny in England?

So, history teaches us that those who stand at our Southern Border eager to enter and those who are walking towards it are not much different from those who settled what is now the United States of America, which we have declared as the ‘the land of the free and the home of the brave.’

Congresswoman Johnson represents the 30th congressional district of Texas in the US House of Representatives.

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BUSINESS

Fearless Fund Launches $5 Million Dollar VC Fund Fueling Women Of Color Owned Businesses The Fearless Fund invests in women of colorled businesses seeking pre-seed, seed level, or series A funding. With a mission of bridging the gap in venture capital funding for women of color founders building scalable, growth aggressive companies, Fearless Fund is built by women of color for women of color. Since its recent initiation, the Fearless Fund has hosted pitch competitions at Facebook Headquarters & Spanx Headquarters with brand partners such as Coca-Cola, UrbanSkinRX, Bumble and more.

Through Fearless Fund, Founding Partners Arian Simone and Keshia Knight Pulliam are highlighting how diversity significantly impacts a company’s performance and potential to provide investor returns.

In fact, a 2018 report released by Boston Consulting Group found that for every dollar of funding a startup in their study received,

female-run startups generated an average of 78 cents in revenue while male-run startups generated 31 cents.

Despite a greater potential to produce higher returns, women are historically underfunded-particularly women of color. “The Fearless fund is designed to change the narrative as it relates to funding allocated to women of color,” states Simone.

In 2018, U.S. companies raised a total of $130B in VC funding. A mere 2.2% of that total went toward female-founded companies and less than 1% of total funding was allocated toward businesses founded by women of color (Fortune, 2018 & GirlBoss, 2019). This is not a “pipeline issue” or a result of a lack of VC-

eligible, women of color-led companies. In fact, Fearless Fund already has five companies in its portfolio including Ellis Island Tea founded by Forbes 30 Under 30 entrepreneur Nailah EllisBrown, the first African-American female to ever own a beverage production facility.

Simone, a serial entrepreneur, philanthropist, angel investor, best-selling author, and marketing expert, spearheads this initiative alongside Pulliam, who’s an actress and entrepreneur.

Simone is the Founder and CEO of Arian Simone Enterprises and Pulliam is the Founder of spice line Keshia’s Kitchen, podcast Kandidly Keshia and non-profit The Kamp Kizzy Foundation. Additionally, the fund has seen abundant support from its advisors: Opportunity Hub CEO, Rodney Sampson, and The 22 Fund Managing Partner, Tracy Gray.

Early investors in the fund include actress

and producer, Marsai Martin (Black-ish), Atlanta OBGYN, Dr. Jacqueline Waters (Married to Medicine), Chattanooga VC fund, The JumpFund, and other notable individual and institutional investors.

With a proven track record of molding successful startups and building an expansive network of top entertainers and business leaders, the Fearless Fund team is more than a source of capital infusion for the companies they invest in, according to a press release. In addition to a robust mentor program, the team is leveraging their network to build out an optional Celebrity Equity-Based Endorsement program for their portfolio companies. This program aims to quickly scale companies by connecting them with celebrities for influencer marketing campaigns.

For more information on the Fearless Fund, visit www.fearless.fund.

Half Of Working Americans Would Lie About Cell Reception And Wi-Fi Access To Avoid Work Calls And Email On Vacation Little white lies about Wi-Fi are acceptable to half (49%) of working Americans avoiding checking into the office while on vacation, according

to the 2019 Vacation Confidence Index* released by Allianz Global Assistance, a leading travel insurance and assistance company.

As “email creep,” referring to when work obligations encroach on personal time, affects two thirds (65%) of workers who feel the need to check-in with the

office while on vacation, using limited phone service or Wi-Fi in a vacation destination has become the excuse du jour for employees this summer.

Most likely to use the excuse are Millennials (59%), followed by Gen X’ers (49%) and Boomers (32%). While men and women are equally honest, with no difference between the sexes at 49% each, those earning more than $50,000 a year are significantly more likely (53%) to use the excuse compared to those earning less than $50,000 (39%).

Who is the most likely person to pull the “I’m cutting out” excuse?

A white (53%), college-educated (50%) Millennial (59%) who is married (53%) with children (53%) and working full time (50%) for an annual salary more than $50,000 (53%) in the Northeast (53%).

A quarter of all working Americans (24%), meanwhile, make a point not to go on vacation in places where poor cell reception or Wi-Fi access could disrupt their connection to the office.

Millennials (74%) are the most likely to check email while on vacation, but the rate is also high for Gen X’ers (58%) and Boomers (63%), with the most common reason: it makes catching up on work easier when returning to the office (34%).

Despite the pressures to stay “online” and connected to the office while on vacation, the majority of working Americans (54%) would choose to work even more while away if it meant they were able to take more vacations throughout the year, with Millennials (64%) more likely choosing the more vacations with more checking in at work

scenario. Boomers, meanwhile, were more likely (54%) to prefer fewer vacations if it means they could be unplugged from the office.

“Most working Americans feel pressured to spend their vacations attached to their work email, when they may just need a few days to unplug. Consequently, half of U.S. workers are willing to lie about lack of connectivity to set them free from work obligations,” said Daniel Durazo, director of marketing and communications at Allianz Global Assistance USA. “For travelers seeking a carefree getaway from the grind, trip insurance offers peace of mind and 24/7 global assistance to help them stay cool and collected when faced with covered travel disruptions.”

Allianz Global Assistance offers travel insurance through most major U.S. airlines, leading travel agents, online travel agencies, and other travel suppliers, as well as directly to consumers. Terms, conditions, and exclusions apply to all plans. Plans are available only to U.S. residents and not all plans are available in all jurisdictions.

For more information on Allianz Global Assistance and the policies offered for travelers, please visit: http:// www.allianztravelinsurance.com.

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CITIZEN | South End | Week of Sept. 4, 2019

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NEWS

6 Play Activities That Can Help Manage ‘Bad Behavior’ StatePoint - When children misbehave, there’s often a reason for it, according to experts, who point out that understanding the behaviors can help you manage them more effectively, especially during play time.

“Our bodies want to be in balance and, ideally, we seek out what we need when we need it. When we are hungry, we eat. When we are thirsty, we drink. But when it comes to children whose sensory and nervous systems don’t process efficiently or effectively, this restorative balance may simply look like bad or undesired behavior,” says Ellen Metrick, a toy design consultant and an expert contributor to TheGeniusofPlay.org, who has a background in special education.

During play time, children who are understimulated may seek out sensory stimulation by spinning around repeatedly or intentionally banging into walls or even other children.

Children who are over-stimulated may get agitated and retreat from sensory stimulation by crawling under tables.

While playtime is when some of these behaviors may be exhibited, it’s also a chance for parents and caretakers to help children regulate their sensory system,” says Metrick. “Remember that every individual is different, and if something isn’t working for your child, you can tweak the activity to fit his or her needs.”

Whether your child requires more noise and excitement to satisfy energy needs or less to reduce feelings of anxiety and stress, there are ways to tailor playtime to cater to those individual needs.

To help, Metrick and The Genius of Play, an initiative whose mission is to raise awareness about the importance of play and help parents make play a critical part of raising their kids, are offering three ideas for activities that will give a needed boost to children who are understimulated and crave more sensory stimulation: • Climb on a jungle gym. Hanging on monkey bars and climbing ladders use a child’s

own body as resistance to send signals to the brain and help organize the nervous system.

• Have a dance party. Games like freeze dance and musical chairs add structure and auditory processing to play. Children receive feedback from their muscles and joints with every step they take.

• Pop some bubbles. Jumping up and down on a sheet of bubble wrap can be great fun and

the deep pressure will trigger sensory receptors, telling the brain how to control movement and postural balance.

For children who are over-stimulated and need a bit less distraction, consider these three ideas for helping kids focus, from Metrick and The Genius of Play: • Tone down the sound. Removing extraneous sounds, like music, television and the whirring of a washing machine, may lessen distracting stimuli and improve the child’s focus and engagement in the activity.

• Play at a table. Using a placemat or cookie sheet under the toy or activity at an empty table provides visual boundaries for focused play. It helps to have feet firmly planted on the ground, rather than dangling, so consider using a childsized play table.

• Create a quiet area. Adding soft pillows and blankets to a cozy corner gives children a space to seek respite from environmental stimuli.

Parents searching for more play ideas and expert tips like these can visit TheGeniusofPlay.org.

Whether your child requires more noise and excitement to satisfy energy needs or less to reduce feelings of anxiety and stress, there are ways to tailor playtime to cater to those individual needs.

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6 | CITIZEN | South End | Week of Sept. 4, 2019

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Connected To Us Can’t Get Any Easier. .

If you miss us in print, you can find us here:

www.thechicagocitizen.com Publisher Of The: * Chatham-Southeast Citizen * Hyde Park Citizen

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CITIZEN | South End | Week of Sept. 4, 2019

NEWS Contest Promotes Emerging SciFi Writers and Illustrators NewsUSA - Aspiring artists and authors in the science fiction and fantasy arena have an outlet to finding a wider audience, thanks to the L. Ron Hubbard Achievement Award.

The award, now in its 36th year, has long been an opportunity for a promising debut for professional writers and illustrators in science fiction and fantasy.

“The contest was formed for a purpose beyond simply giving awards - it was intended to help foster the next generation of master writers,” states Joni Labaqui, the Contests’ Administrator.

L. Ron Hubbard, one of the most recognized and prolific American writers, created and endowed the Writers of the Future Contest in 1983 to help foster new talent in science fiction and fantasy writing.

For writers, the contest is a chance to have their work judged by professional authors who are among the masters of the SciFi and fantasy genre and to be discovered by a wide audience.

Entrants retain all publication rights to their work, and there is no entry fee.

The contest awards quarterly first, second, and third prizes of $1,000, $750, and $500 every three months. One of these four quarterly first-place winners

is selected as the Grand Prize winner for the year. The Grand Prize Winner receives the L. Ron Hubbard Golden Pen Award and an additional $5,000.

The judging protocol and prize structure is the same for illustrators.

The Grand Prize Winner is chosen from quarterly winners to receive the L. Ron Hubbard Golden Brush Award and an additional $5,000 cash.

The 35th annual award winners were Andrew Dykstal and Aliya Chen, who were honored at a gala event this spring in Hollywood, Calif. Prior to the awards ceremony, writer and artist winners spent a week enjoying workshops with established writers, artists, and publishing professionals.

“I feel that my career as a writer has now been catapulted,” says Mr. Dykstal, Grand Prize Writing Award Winner for 2019.

Ms. Chen, winner of the Grand Prize Illustrator’s Award, says: “Winning this Grand Prize Award is validation for me that illustration, which is a passion for me, doesn’t have to be limited to a hobby, but it’s definitely possible as a career.”

Writers can enter the contest at: www.writersofthefuture.com/enter-writer-contest/.

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