We are no longer accepting submissions. Thank you to everyone who entered student work in this year’s contest! Our panel of judges will work on scoring all entries in February and March. We hope to announce winners in April. If you have questions, email witesolboard@gmail.com
Writing and Art Contest 2019-2020
Theme: Animals
Students can write or create art about any animal they wish. Students may choose to write a personal essay, informational text, or poem about a favorite animal (domestic or wild) or reflect on how they might be like a certain animal. International students might want to reflect on animals that are symbols of their countries. We are open to all perspectives.
ELECTRONIC FORMAT
We will continue with our electronic format for submissions, judging and printing. Teachers will submit their entries via a form on our WITESOL website for writing submission and through witesolcontest@gmail.com for art. This format helps us save on expenses.
RULES
- Entrants: Only English Learners currently enrolled in a class or program taught by a teacher who is a current WITESOL member are eligible. Entrants must be enrolled in one of the following levels of education: primary (K-2), intermediate (grades 3-5), middle school (grades 6-8), high school (grades 9-12), or adult education (university, technical college or other ESL/literary program).
- Format: Entries must be written in English. All entries must be typed. Each essay should have a title, a body of at least five sentences and a maximum of 350 words. Poetry can be up to one page, free verse or rhyme. Any form is acceptable for an art project (crayons, pencils, painting, photography, multimedia, etc.). We are only able to accept digital photos of the completed artwork in a jpeg or png format and will not accept PDFs.
- Topic: The 2019-2020 contest theme is “Animals.”
- Submission Process: Each teacher may submit a maximum of three writing pieces and three art pieces for each level. A separate entry form must accompany each essay, poem and art project. Teachers will submit essays and poems individually through our website form, and art work will be submitted to this address: witesolcontest@gmail.com . Teachers should consult our website for specific directions about submitting artwork because both the electronic form and an email is needed in the art category.
- All participating teachers will receive a participation certificate that can be printed and given to all students who participate.
DEADLINE: Friday, February 14, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. Central Time
JUDGING
The student’s teacher may make suggestions for improvement. However, the final essay or artwork should reflect the student’s own best effort. A committee made up of WITESOL Executive Board members and other member judges will make the final determination on work submitted. Essays and poetry will be judged on the basis of content, originality, organization and adherence to the rules of the contest. Artwork will be judged on the basis of content, originality and adherence to the rules of the contest.
Any WITESOL member interested in judging or helping with the committee can contact Brianna Deering at witesolboard@gmail.com
AWARDS
A total of 15 prizes will be awarded for writing:
5 prizes of $50 each (one first prize for each level)
5 prizes of $30 each (one second prize for each level)
5 prizes of $20 each (one third prize for each level)
A total of 6 prizes will be awarded for art:
1 prize of $50 (grand prize winner)
5 prizes of $30 each (one prize for each level)
We will publish all winners’ work in an electronic booklet available on our website.