About the Promise of Gwinnett Writing Contest
The 2016-17 school year is a Year of Promise, promoted through the district's Promise of Gwinnett campaign. The Promise of Gwinnett campaign has a monthly focus with related collateral and activities. In planning POG campaign promotions for American Education Week in November, we determined that a writing contest would be a way to focus on students and five them a voice in the campaign.
This contest is open to any student currently enrolled in a GCPS school, grades K-12. Initial contest entries will be accepted at the school level. Schools will conduct a schoolwide contest, forwarding a package of the school's winning entries ( no more than one winner per grade level) to the GCPS Language Arts Office by the Oct. 14 deadline. Judging will be coordinated by the Language Arts Office.
Important note: Winners at the county-level will be submitted as entries to the annual Young Georgia Authors Writing Competition. The GCPS Promise contest guidelines are patterned after the YGA guidelines.
What To Write
The theme of this writing competition is The Promise of Gwinnett. While students are not responding to a specific prompt, they should write about "promise". For example, How do they show their potential? How do their families encourage their dream? Why should people strive to fulfill their promise?What promises do public schools make to their students? What do they hope to do with their education?
In this writing contest, there are no additional boundaries to a student's genre choice or creativity beyond a five-page maximum length limit (if typed, Times New Roman, 12 point font, double-spaced). Entries may include:
- Short Stories
- Poetry
- Essays
- Expository Writing
- Personal Narratives
- Any Other Original Student Writing
How To Enter
Written work may be entered into the district-level competition only by winning at the local school. Schools may enter only one entry (authored by one student) per grade level. The GCPS language Arts Office will accept only those submissions sent by a school administrator representing the grade-level winner(s) for a school. The GCPS Language Arts Office will be responsible for selecting One system-level winner per grade (K-12). No more than 13 system-level winners will be selected.
Entries must be provided on flat, ordinary paper. No bound copies, booklets, etc., will be judged. Please keep a copy of your submission for your records as the GCPS Language Arts Office will not keep or return originals after the competition. See the following for specific instructions. The competition will not accept individual entries from students, parents, teachers, or others.
Prizes
- All or part of each winning entry will be featured on the GCPS Promise of Gwinnett web page during American Education Week (Nov. 14-18)
- Winning students, their families, select teachers, and their principal will be invited to a reception and special presentation by a published author. Date for this even is to be determined.
- Winners will receive a framed certificate and a gift card from Barnes and Noble
- The highest-scoring entries in each of four groups (grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) will receive an additional cash prize from the GCPS Foundation Fund.
- Winning entries will be submitted to represent GCPS in the Georgia Young Authors Writing Competition in the spring.
- The contest will yield no more than 13 winners, one per grade level (K-12).
Frequently Asked Questions:
What do you mean by "original work"?
Original work refers to work that the student created without the help of others. Edits and revisions should be the work of the student.
What's the format for sending in entries?
Coordinators at the school level should provide header information on the school winners' papers to assure anonymity for the system-level judging. This information may be neatly handwritten, and it should be on each page of the entry. The completed entry form and the original paper and a copy (both with header information on each page) should be sent in for judging. Be sure to keep a copy for your own records. No entered work should include either the student's full name or the name of the school or cluster or a teacher's name.
My students collaborated on a writing project, and it is amazing May I submit three names for consideration?
This is a writing contest for individuals. While we support collaboration in the classroom, only one student per grade level per school may advance to the district-level judging.
Selection Procedures
1.) The writing contest begins in each school building with a worldwide competition. Grade-level winner will be announced, and the winning entries should be sent to the GCPS Language Arts Office by the due date. To ensure equity, we cannot accept any package that arrives after 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14 2016.
2.) Entries must result from a school-level contest and must be submitted by a school-level administrator. Individual entries sent by teachers, students, parents, or others cannot judged.
3.) Schools may submit ONE winning entry per grade. Dual or multiple entries for any grade and work written by more than one student will be disqualified.
4.) Judging will be conducted by an appointed committee of Language Arts professionals from Gwinnett, convened by the GCPS Language Arts Office for the purpose of selecting a district-level winner for each grade (K-12). The GCPS Language Arts Office will log each school's winner for grade levels K-12, prepare a master list of entries, and safeguard the names and identifying school of origin in order to protect the integrity of the judging process. Judges will not have access to other judge's scores, nor will they be aware of the name of the student or teacher, or school of origin. Judges will use a rubric for judging. (See page 6 for a sample rubric.)
5.) District-level winners (k-12) will be announced the week of Nov.7, 2016.
6.) District-level winners (k-12) will be submitted as GCPS entries into the annual Young Georgia Authors Writing Competition, typically held in the spring. GCPS will follow the state-provided guidelines to enter the YGA contest once available.
General Rules
1.) Entries must be prepared using the following guidelines:
a.) Submit the completed entry form, including parent and student signatures and information.
b.) include the original student work and one copy of the original student work.
c.) Remove name of student, the student's teacher, and the school on both the original student work and the copy.
d.) Record the student's initials and grade at the top and center of each page of the original copy in the following manner:
SAMPLE OF TOP OF EACH PAGE OF THE ORIGINAL AND COPY SUBMITTED
ABC 5TH
(Student Initials) (Grade)
2.) Remember to submit the original AND a copy. Use paper clips and binder clips instead of staples.
3.) To advance in competition, the entry form must be COMPLETE, including signature of the student, the parent/guardian, and the designated school-level administrator. Incomplete entry forms will be eliminated from the competition.
Please review the form carefully! Signatures are often missing, and without these permissions, we CANNOT include the student's work in the competition process.
4.) Entries must be the student's original work. This includes all edits and revisions. Dictated stories cannot be accepted.
5.) Entries must be typed or handwritten on 8.5 x 11 inch paper. Print on one side of the paper only. Do not bind, make a cover for, decorate, laminate, or otherwise alter the original paper on which the entry is written.
6.)The maximum length is five pages. If typed, font must be Times New Roman, size 12, and double-spaced.
7.) Entries that do not follow the guidelines will not be included in the competition process.
8.) Once received by the committee, the original work will not be returned. Please keep a copy before you submit the work.
9.) Send all school-level winners in the same packet to the GCPS Language Arts Office by the Oct 14, 2016, deadline. Send only ONE winner per grade level.
10.) Use the table provided on the page 5 to create a cover page for your school entries.
11.) Refer questions to Kimberly Lipe or Josie Perez in the GCPS Language Arts Office.
The Promise of Gwinnett Entry Form
All entries must be COMPLETE and LEGIBLE and must be received by Oct. 14, 2016
This form is for schools to use in submitting grade-level winners. (**To be completed by parent/guardian)
School: ______________________________________________________________
Title of Student Work: ______________________________________________________
Student Name: __________________________________________ Grade: _________
**Parent/Guardian Name: __________________________________________________
**Student Phone Number: ____________________ **Email: ____________________
**Student Home Address: ___________________________________________________
Street/P.O. Box, City, ZIP Code
School Administrator Contact: ________________________________________________
System Level Administrator Phone: __________________ Email: ____________________
School Contact (teacher/principal): ___________________________________________
School: ____________________________ School Phone: __________________________
____________________________________________ __________________
Student Signature Date
PARENT/GUARDIAN SIGNATURE REQUIRED: By signing below I affirm that I give my permission for the work of the above-named student author, for whom I am the parent/guardian, to be entered into The Promise of Gwinnett Writing Contest. If selected as the grade the grade-level winner at the district level, I give permission for my student's work to be published online by GCPS. I also give my permission for my student's work to be entered in the Young Georgia Authors Writing Competition, and to be shared and/or published by the Georgia Department of Education and/or the Georgia Council of Teachers of English for non-profit purposes.
____________________________________________ _________________
**Parent/Guardian Signature **Date
SCHOOL REPRESENTATIVE SIGNATURE REQUIRED: By signing below I affirm that I am a school-level administrator and am coordinating the entry of all winning student work from this school for The Promise of Gwinnett Writing Contest. I affirm that the work of the above-named student author has been chosen to represent this school for the grade level indicated.
____________________________________________ _________________
School Administrator Signature Date
NOTE: Unsigned or incomplete forms will cause the attached entry to be disqualified. Attach this completed form on top of each student's entry, along with one photocopy of the entry. Be sure to remove the student's name, teacher's name, school's name, and any other identifying information from the entry itself. Be sure to label the top of each page of the entry with the student's initials and grade. Please make a copy of the entry before submitting. Entries will not be returned.
THE PROMISE OF GWINNETT WRITING CONTEST
SCHOOL COVER SHEET FORM
School: _________________________________________________________________
Administrator Contact: ____________________________________________________
Phone: _______________________ Email: ____________________________________
Note: It is not required that an entry be submitted for every grade. Please place all submissions from your school in a single package. Each piece of student work submitted must include the original and one photocopy of the work with the student and school name removed. Centered at the top of each original and copy, please print the student's initials and grade level. Attach a fully completed entry form. Please use paper clips and binder clips instead of staples to compile packages. Include this coversheet with your package when all work is assembled.
GRADE STUDENT NAME TITLE OF WORK
K _____________________ _______________________
1 _____________________ _______________________
2 _____________________ _______________________
3 _____________________ _______________________
4 _____________________ _______________________
5 _____________________ _______________________
6 _____________________ _______________________
7 _____________________ _______________________
8 _____________________ _______________________
9 _____________________ _______________________
10 _____________________ _______________________
11 _____________________ _______________________
12 _____________________ _______________________
All entries must be RECEIVED by the GCPS Office of Language Arts by FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2016. Incomplete entries will be disqualified. Entries without required signatures will be disqualified. Student work will not be returned. Remember to keep copies.
