The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration Essay Contest!

Download the poster.

Download the guidelines.

Download the press release.

Download the cover sheet.

• Open to students in 3rd to 12th grades enrolled in a greater Spokane area public school or home school group.
• All submissions are due by 4 p.m. on Dec. 16, 2011 to
  • Jeani-Liz Brickner
  • Interim Children’s Services Director
  • jbrickner@mlkspokane.org
  • 845 S. Sherman St. Spokane, WA 99202
• All submissions must
  • have a cover sheet attached
  • be legible
  • be original
  • be an individual effort
• Contest winner/s will be announced Jan. 4, 2012; top prize winners in each age category will be invited to share their work at an MLK Day Celebration event
• Grades 3-4
  • Essay topic/theme: “How my family and I celebrate Dr. King and live his dream.”
  • Minimum of 10 sentences
  • One submission per student
  • Hand-written preferred
  • Winner receives $50 gift card
  • Runner-up receives $25 gift card
  • The judging committee reserves the right to choose no winner or to award additional prizes.
• Grades 5-6
  • Essay topic/theme: “Dr. King wanted everyone to be treated with equal respect. Do you think this has happened in your school? Why or why not? If not, how do you think we can make this change?”
  • Minimum of 4 paragraphs
  • One submission per student
  • Hand-written or typed submissions accepted
  • Winner receives $50 gift card
  • Runner-up receives $25 gift card
  • The judging committee reserves the right to choose no winner or to award additional prizes.
• Grades 7-9
  • Essay topic/theme: “Dr. King wrote about overcoming conflict to gain cooperation. Discuss ways in which you have overcome conflict and cooperated and ways in which our community might be able to as well.”
  • Minimum of 2 pages; maximum of 4 pages (typed, double spaced pages in Times New Roman size 12 font)
  • One submission per student
  • Winner receives $100 gift card
  • Runner-up receives $50 gift card
  • The judging committee reserves the right to choose no winner or to award additional prizes.
• Grades 10-12
  • Essay topic/theme: “Interview someone you admire who has overcome instances of prejudice. Write their story and discuss why it is powerful to you and how our community might learn from it.”
  • Minimum of 3 pages; maximum of 6 pages (typed, double spaced pages in Times New Roman size 12 font)
  • One submission per student
  • Winner receives $200 gift card
  • Runner-up receives $100 gift card
  • The judging committee reserves the right to choose no winner or to award additional prizes.