Riverdale is celebrating one of their Raiders! 7th grade student Lyara Greene tied for first place at the Memphis Jewish Federation’s 15th Annual Holocaust Art & Essay Competition for her piece of artwork, Generation to Generation.
Lyara created a 3-D mixed and recycled media compilation piece, and she wanted to highlight the theme of Generation to Generation saying, “I wanted to show the generation to generation theme by combining how I originally learned about the Holocaust through one of the same books as my mother.” Lyara explained the meanings behind each piece that she selected for her work of art, and she hopes it shows, “The will of good is ultimately stronger than the brutality inflicted by the corrupt.” Lyara created a truly amazing work of art, and she closed her essay by saying this about Anne Frank, “I chose to honor her memory so she may live for another generation.”
7th Grade Social Studies teacher Perry Pennington is extremely proud of his social studies student, “It is a theme related to the history we study in class.” Mr. Pennington is proud of all of his students who chose to participate, also mentioning that last year 8th grade Raider Lucy Underwood received second place. Of Lyara’s piece he said, “I'm extremely proud of Lyara's artwork and her thoughtful engagement with this very serious topic. I believe that she won because of the imaginative power and gritty realism of her art.”
Lyara has been invited to attend the 62nd Annual Yom HaShoah commemoration at the Memphis Jewish Community Center where they plan to recognize her, and her artwork will be on the cover of the 2024 Yom HaShoah program. Congratulations to Lyara, and a special thank you to Mr. Pennington for supporting his students to pursue their artistic passions.