The Scholarship is Funded by a Grant from the Rauch Foundation in Memory of its Long-Time Board ember and Sea Cliff Resident John Wenzel
Syosset, NY – June 2, 2025 – April Francis Taylor, Acting President of ERASE Racism, announced today that the 2025 winner of its John Wenzel Scholarship is Zo Mahari Elrington, a senior at Valley Stream North High School. The scholarship is awarded annually to a deserving high school senior on Long Island exemplifying ERASE Racism’s commitment to racial justice. The scholarship winner receives a $1500 scholarship and a new laptop, which will be presented at ERASE Racism’s Annual Benefit on June 4th.
This year’s scholarship winner was selected, based on his essay in response to a contest on the theme “Brave Spaces: Shaping Change and Transformative Communication.” His essay is excerpted below.
The John Wenzel Scholarship is funded by a commemorative grant to ERASE Racism from the Rauch Foundation in memory of the Foundation’s longstanding Board Member John Wenzel, who died in late 2023. A resident of Sea Cliff, NY, on Long Island for more than 50 years, Wenzel was a member of ERASE Racism’s Advisory Committee. This is the second year that the John Wenzel Scholarship has been awarded.
“ERASE Racism is excited to recognize Zo Mahari Elrington as the 2025 winner of the John Wenzel Scholarship,” said ERASE Racism Acting President April Francis Taylor. “John Wenzel’s commitment to ERASE Racism and to racial justice lives on through this scholarship and its recipients. Zo Mahari Elrington now continues what will become a growing list of Long Island seniors, whose futures will be advanced by this recognition of their commitment to racial justice and their promise of a new generation of leadership.”
An excerpt of Zo Mahari Elrington’s winning essay (available in full on request) follows:
“On Long Island, I’ve witnessed how classrooms often become silent on issues that matter most. Social justice, race, and inequality are rarely addressed with the urgency or clarity they deserve. But in this silence, I found sound. Music became my medium for shaping change—my way to raise my voice.
My educational journey has been profoundly shaped by music. Complex subjects might've eluded me without the auditory influence of music and song. In elementary and middle school, music was a constant classroom companion: the ABCs taught me the alphabet, Animaniacs’ “Yakko’s World” made geography fun, and “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” simplified anatomy. However, as I entered high school, music's prominent educational role dwindled. The once harmonious lessons were replaced with monotonous papers and documents.
Recently, Bob Marley’s “War” has reshaped how I saw injustice. …. Marley’s melodies fueled my mission: to bring music back into learning spaces, not as background, but as a tool for justice. In my school community, fueled by the social justice knowledge I’ve gained from music and being an ERASE Racism Student Task Force member this year, I lead through the Future Teacher Club, My Brother’s Keeper. In these spaces, I integrate music into lesson plans and peer workshops. I invite musicians to speak on social justice, using their lyrics as launchpads for critical dialogue. From analyzing hiring discrimination through song lyrics to understanding internalized oppression, I use music to turn passive listeners into active learners. ….
In a society that values silence over truth, my goal is to build classrooms where communication is courageous, and change is possible. By combining melody with meaning, I am not just raising my voice—I’m helping others find theirs too.”
Click here for a PDF version of this Press Release.