LWV Greenwich Student Essay Contest Grades 3-12

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Student "Essay" Contest

Students in grades 3-12 who live in or go to school in Greenwich are encouraged to enter the 5^th Annual LWV Greenwich Student "Essay" Contest between now and May 1^st. Create in your choice of format - see below. No fee required! Winning entries will be published on this web site, and the authors will be publicized in the local press. Prizes are $250-$500 checks or $100 gift certificates.

Jump to Submission Section

Topic Prompt

Why should people vote?

About 66% of the eligible voting population turned out for the 2020 Presidential election, the highest since 1900, per Pew Research Center. This means one third of Americans do not vote. How can you convince them to exercise this essential right?

Voting is very important in the United States. Let's get voting...

Rules

No LWV Greenwich Board family members may enter
Select a format from the choices for your grade, below
Do not include your name or any identifying personal information, including on YouTube entries; no credits please
All work must be original, with no assistance from artificial intelligence; if possible verified via turnitin
Submit your entry through this page, below
Deadline May 1^st

Prizes

Two Tickets per winner to LWV Greenwich Annual Dinner at Riverside Yacht Club, June 5^th, where winners will be honored
Two $100 gift certificates to Athena Books for grades 3-5
One $100 gift certificate to Diane's Books for grades 6-8
For grades 9-12: one $500 check and two $250 checks

If a group project, one prize per group (including two tickets to the dinner)

Judging

A panel of LWV Greenwich members will evaluate the entries
Judges will not see the names of submitters
Two winning submissions will be selected for grades 3-5
One winning submission will be selected for grades 6-8
One winning submission and two runners-up will be selected for grades 9-12

Winners will be announced on May 20^th

Grades 3-5 Formats

Grades 6-8 Formats

Grades 9-12 Formats

Save any of the following formats as PDF:

Persuasive Paper
150-300 words
Editorial
150-300 words
Poem
50-100 words
Picture
8.5 x 11"
Political Cartoon
8.5 x 11"

No group projects for grades 3-5.

Persuasive Paper
500-800 words
3 sources or more
save as PDF
Editorial
500-800 words
3 sources or more
save as PDF
Poem
50-100 words
save as PDF
optional: in addition to PDF, read aloud and upload to YouTube
Picture
8.5 x 11"
save as PDF
Political Cartoon
1 or 2 pages, 8.5 x 11" each
5-8 panels
save as PDF
Song with Lyrics - group entries permitted
at least 1 minute
save lyrics as PDF and upload recording to YouTube
One-Act Play - group entries permitted
10 minutes or less
save script as PDF and upload performance to YouTube

Persuasive Paper
800-1000 words
annotated MLA sources
save as PDF
Editorial
800-1000 words
annotated MLA sources
save as PDF
Poem
100-200 words
save as PDF
optional: in addition to PDF, read aloud and upload to YouTube
Short Story
100-200 words
save as PDF
Political Cartoon
1 or 2 pages, 8.5 x 11" each
5-8 panels
save as PDF
Song with Lyrics - group entries permitted
at least 2 minutes
save lyrics as PDF and upload recording to YouTube
Podcast with Learned Guest - dual entries permitted
5-7 minutes
upload recording to YouTube and save transcription prepared from recording to PDF
Public Service Announcement - group entries permitted
3-5 minutes
save script as PDF and upload recording to YouTube
One-Act Play - group entries permitted
10 minutes or less
save script as PDF and upload performance to YouTube

If you have any questions, please use
YouthOutreach@LWVGreenwich.org
to e-mail us.

Essay Submission Instructions*

Check you followed the rules and the requirements of the format.
Save your finished project as a PDF and, if pertinent, upload it to YouTube.
Click the Submit button below, based on your grade.
Complete all required fields on the form.
Click NEXT to load the submission page.
Complete all required fields, including a link to YouTube, and upload the PDF of your written portion.

*If an adult is submitting for you and they are an LWV Greenwich member, they should start by logging in using the instructions beneath the Submit buttons.

Grades 3, 4, and 5
Click Here to Submit

Grades 6, 7, and 8
Click Here to Submit

Grades 9, 10, 11, and 12
Click Here to Submit

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