The recent Ford Championship Weekend certainly was about world-class racing and crowning champions in each of NASCAR’s three premier series — Sprint Cup, XFINITY and Camping World Trucks. It also was about community, and Homestead-Miami Speedway has continued in its commitment to have kids excel in school through programs such as “Racing to Read.”
This year, the championship track partnered with Miami-Dade Public Schools and the Omari Hardwick bluapple Poetry Network of the Jason Taylor Foundation to launch the “Write Track Poetry” competition. Starting in September, students from three Miami-Dade County middle schools — Arthur and Polly Mays Conservatory of the Arts, Richmond Heights Middle and Hammock Middle — submitted poems based on the theme, What Does it Mean to be a Champion?
In addition, pep rallies took place at the three middle schools where more than 2,000 participating students listened to bluapple Poetry Network poets perform spoken word.
The winning poem was submitted by eighth grader Paolo Casti of Arthur and Polly Mays Conservatory of the Arts. Not only was Paolo honored prior to the Ford EcoBoost 300 XFINITY Series championship race, but he also will have a chance to perform at the bluapple Poetry Network’s Louder Than a Bomb Florida spoken word competition which will take place in April 2017.
The top 10 students in each grade (6-8) from all three schools were in attendance for the Ford EcoBoost 300.
“The Jason Taylor Foundation, and specifically the bluapple Poetry Network, has made a profound impact on the youth of South Florida, and this competition is a prime example of that,” said Homestead-Miami Speedway president Matthew Becherer.
“Reaching out to students and encouraging them to express their feelings while at the same time allowing them to enhance their writing skills is imperative in their development. We are thrilled that we were able to partner with such a great organization to help achieve these goals,” he added.
“Education and empowerment are the critical pillars on which our organization is built, and all of the students who participated in the competition this year personify that spirit,” said Seth Levit, executive director of the Jason Taylor Foundation. “Homestead-Miami Speedway helps to produce champions not just on the track, but in the classroom as well. Collaborating with a like-minded partner to help young people improve upon their literary skills, think critically and develop their own voice speaks to the core of why Jason established this Foundation.”
