When TEAM (Together Effectively Achieving Multiculturalism) Westport tasked Westport teenagers to write a 1,000 word paper on issues of hate speech, social media and first amendment rights in relation to Staples High School and Westport as a whole, the student writers had no trouble finding countless examples to pull from. Just this year, schools faced controversy from students and the community at large, which increased after Dr. Carol Felder – a Westport parent – testified at a board of education meeting that her daughters repeatedly faced racist hate speech in schools.
At the awards ceremony for the top three contestants, after a rigorous judging process by notable Westporters such as Shonda Rhimes, they read their speeches and the winner was announced. The judging panel included First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker, Westport Library Executive Director Bill Smith, Staples Principal Stafford W. Thomas Jr. and chair of TEAM Westport Harold Bailey.
Teya Ozgen ’27 won $500 for third place, Olivia Morgeson ’26 won $750 for second place and Sophia Lopez ’25 won $1,000 for first place.
Morgeson titled her essay “Hate has no Home Here” and chose to tackle the prompt in a lens relating more to how hate speech should be disciplined in schools.
“My main idea was [to raise] awareness of the hate speech against Hispanics and LGBTQ+ people in Westport,” winner Sophia Lopez ’25 said. “Because it doesn’t really get talked about enough.”
“I referenced the board of education meeting, which was talking about hate speech and racist behavior, but I’ve had a lot of personal experiences with that too, and I thought a lot about how ideally I would want the perpetrator to be dealt with,” Morgeson said. “Like obviously there needs to be some punishment, but I also want everyone to know what’s respectful and what’s not.”
All participants had different reasons for entering the contest, many using it to thoughtfully reflect on the issue in Westport schools and also to apply their own personal experiences to the prompt.
“I think my parents really wanted me to [submit my essay], because I’ve always been into writing,” Ozgen said. “And about speaking up as an Asian person, […] they really wanted me to just try it out.”
The finalists all came with diverse central themes to their essays, but they all shared the sentiment that hate speech against all minority groups was a problem in Westport that needed to be more directly addressed by schools and the town alike.
