Pittsburgh DtWT * Court Of Common Pleas * 440 Ross St., Rm. 532 * Pittsburgh, PA 15219
To: All Participating Pittsburgh Area Schools
Welcome to the 2023 Pittsburgh “Do the Write Thing Challenge” (DtWT). We are very
pleased to have you and your students involved in this unique program designed to give 6th, 7th
& 8th grade students the opportunity to communicate their thoughts on the impact of violence on their
lives and to make personal commitments to reduce violence.
The Pittsburgh DtWT is a program of the Allegheny County Family Courts under the direction of
Judge Dwayne D. Woodruff and his co-chair wife, Joy Maxberry Woodruff. More than 14,500
students have submitted writings to the program since its inception in 2008 and over 1,450
students have been honored at the annual DtWT Dinner Celebration, which brings together
students from many school districts across Allegheny County.
At the dinner, the male and female National Ambassador students are announced! The national
ambassadors will represent the Pittsburgh area and be honored in Washington, DC, along with
their teacher and a parent during the DtWT National Recognition Week. The ambassadors meet with
national leaders/policymakers to discuss youth violence issues and a book of their writings is
inducted into the United States Library of Congress.
Due to the generosity of our sponsors (listed below), we award Lap-top Computers, E-Readers,
E- Tablets and Steelers tickets to the 6 students judged to have the best overall writings, while
their teachers receive monetary & other awards. We also award the top student writers from each
school with a DtWT shirt and other educational award items.
The deadline for the submission of student writings to the Pittsburgh DtWT office is 5:00 pm
on Friday, January 13, 2023. The coordinators will make arrangements to collect the writing
submissions or you can email submissions to entries.pittdtwt@gmail.com. You may print
additional copies of the Pittsburgh DtWT documents by visiting the website at
www.pittdtwt.org/school-packet- info. Please be certain to print only Pittsburgh documents and not
those of the national program.
If you have any questions or concerns, please call one of the Pittsburgh DtWT program
coordinators listed below at 412 350-6281.
Sincerely,
Judge Dwayne D. Woodruff (Chair) Louis Ransom, Jr. (Co-coordinator)
Joy Maxberry Woodruff (Co-chair) Carlena Jenkins (Co-coordinator)
────────── Pittsburgh DtWT Sponsors ──────────
Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield
UPMC / Diehl Automotive Group / Highmark Wholecare
Pittsburgh Steelers / Alaska Center for Pain Relief
Files coming soon.