Optimist International Essay Contest

Why should my Club hold an Essay contest?

Gives young people a chance to write about their opinions regarding the world they live in

Gives young people the opportunity to earn a scholarship for further education

Introduces your Club to the community, parents, schools, local youth and businesses

Be Part of the 3rd Most Popular Optimist Program!

Where do I find information on holding a contest?

District Essay Chair Essay Program Planning Guide (

http://www.Optimist.org) Optimist International Staff

(1-800-500-8130 ext. 235 or 261 or programs@optimist.org)

This looks too hard….

This could be a lot of work! How will we get students to participate? I don’t know if we can find three judges… There are a lot of rules… The secret is…it’s easier than you think!

A New Resource

The Club-Level Essay Contest Program Package available

Includes tools to help your Club run a contest– Job Responsibilities by Position– Sample Letters– And More!

Piece By Piece

Please remember that the responsibility breakdown and timeline are only suggested and can be modified to fit your Club!

Job Responsibilities

A list of all the necessary things that need to be done to run a successful contest

You may think of additional things that need to be done

Job Responsibilities By Position

Project Chair – organizes contest details, sends press releases, reviews judges’ evaluations, ranks essays, announces winners, sends information to District Chair by February 28th

Job Responsibilities By Position (cont.)

Contestant Coordinator – sets deadline for students, asks Principal to make entry part of curriculum, promote the contest to local youth, notify participants of winners

Job Responsibilities By Position (cont.)

Judging Coordinator – secure 3 judges and a back-up, provide judging sheets, make sure judges understand procedures, send “thank you” letters to judges after contest

Job Responsibilities By Position (cont.)

Club Board of Directors – decide whether Club will offer a monetary award to winners

Project Timeline

Responsibilities broken down by weeks leading up to the judging, the day of the judging and then the weeks immediately following the judging

This is only a suggestion.

Press Release – Before Event

Press Releases are fill in the blank – simply type your Club’s information in the highlighted areas

Send to local newspapers, radio stations and television stations

Free publicity for your contest and your Club!

Just Fill In the Blanks!

Judging Sheets and Contest Forms

Instructions to Judges Judge’s Score Sheet Instructions for Master Score Sheet for Club

Chairs Master Score Sheet Club Essay Chair List of What to Submit to the

District Chair District Essay Contest Entry Form

District Entry Form

Sample Letters

Fill in the Blanks– Letter to Parents – thank them for letting their child

participate, inform them about your Club’s other programs and what your Club does, invite them to a Club meeting

– Judges Letter – thank them for their work, inform them about your Club’s other programs and what your Club does, invite them to a Club meeting

Press Release – After the Event

Fill In The Blank – type your Club’s information in the highlighted areas

Announce Club Winner and send photos!

Remember

The program package is not a substitute for the Program Planning Guide. The guide contains all the rules and forms needed to conduct the contest.

All Clubs NEED to print the Club guide from the Optimist website (http://www.Optimist.org) before running the contest!

Questions????