The Peter Jennings Prize: A Child's View

left to right: Beyonne "BJ", Patti LaBelle, Keyana, Eve, Lachuna, Joshua (Photo by Amber De Vos/PatrickMcMullan.com)

During this year’s Dinner Gala at the Waldorf=Astoria, The Peter Jennings Prize: A Child’s View was awarded to 11-year old Joshua, a child currently living in a WIN shelter with his family. Given several different subjects to choose from, Joshua wrote a poem about how he imagines his future. Through the generosity of Random House Children’s Books, WIN board member, Kayce Freed Jennings, presented Joshua and the other finalists, Bejonne, Keyana and Lachuna, a library of their own and a cash prize to reward their hard work and encourage them to strive for success. Read Joshua's "If I Could Write My Future".

When presenting the awards to the children, Kayce spoke about the inspiration behind this contest and said:

My husband, Peter, believed in the wisdom of children. So as a journalist in Bosnia while he interviewed generals and warlords, he also spent a long afternoon on a hill above Sarajevo with a boy named Eki Focco. Eki taught Peter, as only a 13 year old can, about living in a state of siege yet looking into the future – uncertain as it seems – with hope.

And back home, Peter interviewed politicians and policy makers … but because he believed in the wisdom of children, his "town meetings" were often reserved for kids. With insight and intelligence children asked the questions adults wouldn’t or couldn’t ask … about AIDs or drugs or prejudice.

And so The Peter Jennings Prize: A Child’s View does what Peter would have done … it asks the children of WIN shelters to tell us – in a piece of writing – about themselves, about who they are and what they care about. And it asks us to listen.