Application for 2021-2022 Optimist International Essay …

1 3 Applicatio n for 2021-2022 Optimist Internat io nal Essay Cont est Name M F Address City State/Provin ce Zip /Postal Code Telephone ( ) E-mail Dat e of Birt h / / Age Have you participated in any other Optimist Club s Essay Contest this school year? Yes No Conte stant Agreement: I have studied th e ru les of the contest, and I wi ll be bound by all of th e requirements. Contestant s Sig natu re Date / / Parent or Guardian Permission: I give my permission fo r my chil d/ward to participate in this contest. Sig nature Date / / Relationsh ip I, grant the Opti mist Clu b/Internati onal my permission to use a picture or video of my so n/d aughter fo r their publi c rela ti ons purp ose s.

2 Opti mist Cl ub/Internati onal may use th e photo in any publi cati on they se e fit. Sponso ri ng Opti mist Cl ub Name Sponso ri ng Opti mist Cl ub Number Language: Engli sh Fre nch Pleas e send applica tion to addres s below: Official Topic: Each contestant must be given a copy of the rules and complete the entry form. The rules contain infor mation about the contest, judging and awards . Section I - General Rules 1. The Optimis t Interna tional Essay contest is di vided into two levels of competit ion: Clu b and Distr ict.

3 2. Contestants must enter through a local Optimis t Club, or an At-Large contest if a local club is not avail able. An At-large student may not ha ve competed in an Optimis t Interna ti onal or Distr ict contest in the same year. 3. Contestants must compose an or igina l Essay with li mited guidance from others. Webs ter s dictionary de fines an Essay as an ana lytic or interpretative li terary composit ion. Wor ks of fiction or poetry will not be accepted. 4. All Distr ict-level competitions must have a minimum of 3 contestants pa rti cipating.

4 5. Optimis t Interna ti onal will ha ve the right to edit, publish or otherwise duplicate any Essay entered into the contest without pa yment to the author. Section II - Qualifications for Contestants The contest is open to contestants under the age of 19 as of October 1st of the current Optimis t Internati onal contest year (October 1 Septembe r 30) and who have not ye t completed secondary school or it s equivalent, in clu din g CEGEP students in Qu bec, Canada. The re is no minimum age . Students must enter in the Distr ict in which they reside.

5 U. S. students att ending school on mili ta ry installations outside the U. S. are eligible to enter in their last home of record. 2. Contestants are eli gible for only one Club s contest during any given ye ar. 3. No student who ha s pr eviously won a Distr ict Optimist Essay contes t scholar ship will be eli gible to compete at any level of the competi ti on aga in. 4. All contestants at each level of the contest must show proo f of age befor e competi ng. Optimist Clubs may requi re a cop y of bi rth certi ficate or pa ssport be for e pa rti cipating if of ferin g a Club scholarship sepa rate from Optimis t Interna ti onal.

6 Distr ict winners must pr ovide a copy of birth certi ficate or pa ssport with the Distr ict entry documentati Section III - Contest Rules 1. Parti cipants must writ e on the of ficial topic. 2. Each entry must begin with a ti tl e pa ge containing: the official topic, number of wor ds , writ er s na me, address, phone number, na me of school and da te of birth. 3. At the top of pa ge 1 should be the official topic and the number of wor ds (pe na lt y of 2 points for lack of topic and 5 points for fail ure to identify the total number of wor ds correctly).

7 4. Essays must be typewrit ten and double-spa ced. (Deducti on of 5 points) 5. Essays must contain at least 700 words but no more than 800 wor ds . Every word of the Essay is counted. This does not include the ti tl e, bibliography or footnotes. Hyphena ted wor ds count as 1 wor d (Deducti on of 5 points for each 25 wor ds over/under li mit). 6. Each pa ge of the Essay must be numbered starti ng with pa ge 1 of the Essay , not the ti tl e pa ge . The numbers must be centered at the bottom of each pa ge . 7.

8 Any quotations or copyrighted material us ed must be identifie d pr operly. For exa mple, us e of a specific writ er s for mat (suc h as MLA) may be spe cif ied by the instr uc to r overseeing the contest. Fail ur e to identify non-origina l material will resul t in disquali fication. 8. No references can be made in the Essay that identifies the student, pa rents, school, community, sponsor ing Optimist Club or Distr ict. (Deducti on of 5 points or fraction ba sed on de gr ee of identificati on) 9. An Essay may be writ ten in eit he r English, Frenc h, or Spa nish if the language us ed is an official language of the country in which the sponsor ing Club is located.

9 10. The entry must be stapled together in the upper left-ha nd cor ner. Covers of any type are not accepted. Section IV Judging and Timing 1. Judging will be completed by a pa ne l of three quali fied ju dges. At the Club level, judges may be Optimis t Members, who are not acquainted with the contestants. At the Distr ict level, ju dges must be non-Optimists . 2. In an effor t to conceal the identity of each contestant, each entry will be assigned a nu mber by the Essay Contest Cha ir. The assigned number will be placed on the ti tl e pa ge and pa ge 1 of the Essay .

10 The ti tl e pa ge will then be de tache d and retained by the Essay Contest Cha ir. The judges will be given the Essay bearing only the assigned number. 3. Judges will not discuss or compare essays being judged. 4. Only judges can assign a pe na lt y or award points. Section V Scoring Scor ing procedures at all levels of the contest will be identical. 1. Material Orga nizati on logical interpretation of the subject, adherence to topic: 30 points 2. Creativity 10 points 3. Voc abulary and Style phrasing and continuity: 30 points 3.