Entry Forms and Instructions for Essay Contests Ready for Students
By David Trussell, A+ Director | Thursday, January 24, 2013 10:46 AM
Entry forms and instructions are now available online for the Barbara Jordan Historical Essay and Latino History Essay competitions (http://www.uiltexas.org/academics/essay-contests).
The entry process is fully digital, with interactive PDF entry forms and dedicated email addresses for submitting entries. Students must attach their essay and completed entry form to an email message and send to the address indicated in the instructions. Some important points to keep in mind:
• Each entry must be the work of only one student. A student may submit one entry (per competition) per school year. The entry deadline for both contests is March 1, 2013.
• All entries require a completed entry form. Entries that do not include a complete entry form will not be accepted.
• The entry form requires an email address for the student, and for the student’s advising teacher. Both addresses must be current and active, and they must be accurately entered on the form. These email addresses will be used to verify the entry, and for all subsequent correspondence.
• Essays must clearly address the theme of the competition. For the Barbara Jordan Historical Essay Competition, the theme is “African Americans in Texas: Past and Present”; for the Latino History Essay Competition, the theme is “Historical and cultural legacies of Latinos in Texas history.” Entries that do not address the theme will not be accepted.
• For both competitions essays should be between 1,500 and 2,500 words in length, and must be written in research paper format. Essays must include source citations and a bibliography; entries that do not include these elements will not be accepted.
All entries that meet these basic requirements will be entered in the judging process. Refer to the website for additional information on judging and contest guidelines.
In selecting a topic, students should remember that their objective is to conduct original research and develop an essay that could add to the historical record of Texas. Valid historical research can rarely be done using only Internet sources. The use of interviews and primary source materials is strongly encouraged.
Students should look first to their own communities. Parents, grandparents and other family members, as well as family friends, teachers, clergy and other community leaders can all be excellent sources — they may know or have known someone who was a part of an important historical event or movement, or they may have been involved themselves.
Judges will nominate their best essays, and from that group a selection committee will choose state finalists. Students selected as state finalists will not only be in contention for state awards, but all state finalists will also become eligible to apply for TILF scholarships. State awards will be presented at a ceremony during Academic State Meet in May.