Meyzeek Students create anti-violence banners for Smoketown

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Students at Meyzeek Middle are using their creativity to showcase how they define the Smoketown community.

On Monday, the Smoketown Anti-violence Coalition and Office of Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods (OSHN) put the eighteenth student-created banner on display.

Meyzeek students were asked about their neighborhood’s identity and safety. On display near East Breckenridge Street, Erica Wang defined Smoketown by its shotgun houses, and how Muhammad Ali and boxing impacted the area.

“We know that neighborhood identity and Smoketown pride is a protector factor against violence, even more so when you involve young people because many of them have grown up watching it,” OSHN’s Reimagine Network program manager Joe Newland said.

The Smoketown Anti-violence Coalition worked with OSHN on this project. The banners are one of many initiatives to make communities safer.

Meyzeek Middle’s principal, who also works with the Anti-violence coalition, sees this as a positive for his students and the community.

“I am proud,” Meyzeek Middle Principal and Smoketown Anti-Violence Coalition member Charles Marshall said. “I am extremely proud that our students had the opportunity to express themselves and their love for their community. It’s exciting to see what Smoketown means to them and promote anti-violence.”

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