The Matthew Shepard Foundation, GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network), Lesléa Newman and Candlewick Press are excited to give away a classroom set of October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard to a teacher working to make their classroom and school a safe place for LGBT students. Earlier this year we released He Continues to Make a Difference: Commemorating the Life of Matthew Shepard, a classroom curriculum, with our partners.

This Pride Month, we are giving away a full classroom set of Lesléa Newman’s book to one teacher who is working to erase hate in their school. The curriculum is designed to help high school educators who are interested in commemorating and learning from the life of Matthew Shepard and supporting LGBT students. With a copy of October Mourning for each student, one deserving teacher will get to share this story in an even more impactful way.

To enter, teachers should write a short essay (no more than 500 words) about what they are doing to help LGBT students and how October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard will help them create an LGBT-inclusive classroom. Essays should be emailed to Robin@MatthewShepard.org by Sunday, June 29th.