Essay Contest 2012
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Expressing
"gratitude" is an important value in our personal lives. So answer the following question: What
are you
most grateful for?
1. Eligibility: COF youth
in grades 6-12 that are also members of the following courts: St.
Matthew
367, St. Anthony 491, St. Martinus 550, and Stillwater 821.
- Level I: Grades 6-8
- Level II: Grades 9-12
Note: In order to conceal
the identity of each participant, the contest administrator will assign
a
number to each essay. This number will appear on the first page of the
essay and its cover page - see Rule-Guideline
4. The cover page will be detached and retained by the
administrator until judging is completed; only the essay, minus its
cover page, will be given to the judges for scoring.
3. Timeline: Essays must be
submitted by March 31, 2012,
(see Submission Procedure). Winners
will be notified by April 30, 2012,
and will receive their award in person or by mail shortly thereafter.
4. The essay must include a
cover page containing the following information: The topic; the word
count; the participant's name, address, phone number, and email
address; the name of the participant's
school and his/her grade; and the name of the participant's court.
5. The word count
requirement for the essay is as follows:
- Level I: No less than 300 -> no grater than 400
- Level II: No less than 400 -> no grater than 500
6. The essay must be
typed, double-spaced, and must use 12-point Times New Roman font. If
this font is not available, use a similar style. A page
number must appear on each page of the essay, except the cover page,
and must be centered at the bottom of the page. In addition, all
paragraphs must be indented.
7. The essay must be the
result of the participant's own ideas and writing. If the participant
refers to someone else's
ideas or information, however, he or she must use a footnote or the MLA
(Modern
Language Association) system to cite those sources.
Note: The participant may
ask a parent
or a teacher for help with how to construct a footnote or use the MLA
Style of
citation. Any words used in a footnote or Works Cited page will NOT be
counted in the essay. Failure to identify material that is not the
participant's
own will result in disqualification.
Judging
(see Scoring
note)
The essay will be judged on how well it adheres to the following
criteria (a maximum of 50 points are possible):
1. Content - 20 Points: 1-5 points per
item.
- Have a thesis statement that, 1) states the topic... 2) states the main point the writer intends to make?
- Support the main point
with examples, details, and/or relevant
personal experiences?
- Reveal something about the writer's personality and/or
perspective by using good word choices?
- Communicate the writer's ideas clearly by using good sentence construction?
Does the essay...
- Have an “introduction” that grabs the reader's
attention?
-
Develop the main point with one “body paragraph” for each supporting point?
- Have a “conclusion” that makes it memorable?
- Flow smoothly and logically? Can the reader easily follow the
writer's train of
thought from one idea to the next?
Does the essay...
- Follow all structure and formatting guidelines - including the MLA Style and/or footnotes? Please refer to Rule-Guideline 7 for more information.
-
Use correct grammar and punctuation?
-
Spell all words correctly?
We want to encourage all of our eligible youth to write and submit an essay regardless of where their writing skills are, currently. To help them in this effort and to ensure a meaningful writing experience, we have provided the preceding criteria as a means to assist them with this task.
We do not, however, wish to overwhelm the participants with this process. Rather, we want them to confidently express their unique voice and perspective in writing. To help ensure fair and consistent scoring, therefore, all essays will be judged in two categories: First, by how completely they adhere to the scoring criteria. Second, by the overall impression they present to the judge. Note that a separate judge will score each category.
1. Cash prizes will be
awarded to the TOP THREE winners in both levels:
- Level I: First place $75.00, Second place $50.00, Third place $25.00
- Level II: First place $100.00, Second place $75.00, Third place $50.00
2. Winner Recognition: The
first place essays will be published on Court 367's Website. In
addition, a
letter will be sent to the COF High Court for recognition of those
winners and their essay.
Essays must be submitted electronically to the St. Matthew Court
Website by March 31, 2012. To
submit an essay, click on this link: Submit your essay here.
Participants can also email their essay to: submitessay@cofstmatthew367.com.
Essays, with cover page, must be sent as a Microsoft Word Document
attachment or
a compatible word processor document. If a participant does not have
Internet
access, arrangements will be made for him or her to mail in the essay -
please
contact the administrator below.
Important: If you experience any
problems submitting your essay, contact Mike Shirek at
651-451-2542 as soon as
possible.
Note: By submitting an
essay participants give permission to the St. Paul Joint Committee
to send notification to the Catholic Order of Foresters High
Court for possible recognition. Participants also grant permission to
St.
Matthew
Court 367 to post first place essays on its Website.
1. Scoring Note: The
participant may ask
a parent or a teacher for help with how to deal with the scoring
criteria. The ideas and writing,
however, MUST be the participant's, alone.
2. To download a copy of these rules
in PDF format click here.
Please email Mike Shirek at: contactus@cofstmatthew367.com
or call him at 651-451-2542. Please include your phone number and email
address in the message box along with your question/s.
Thank you and GOOD LUCK to each one of our participants!
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