Essay Contest Brings Local Students and Their Community Together
Anderson High School actively sought community participation in sponsoring a Black History Month Essay Contest taking place during the month of February. This was a school-wide initiative implemented during our 8-Step Process Success Period.
Writing skills are constantly practiced and reinforced across all content areas at Anderson High School. Our 8-Step Process Success Periods allow a daily 25 minute period dedicated for tutorials, enrichment, and maintenance of these skills. Wednesdays are devoted to “Writing Wednesdays” with additional time built in on Fridays if needed.
Two writing prompts were developed following the End of Course Assessment (ECA) essay writing structure. Careful thought and consideration were given to the subject matter and choice of topics. Celebrating the concept and intent of Black History Month as relevant to all Anderson High School students was first and foremost. The two writing prompts created reflect the impact of individual African American contributions to American culture and history as well as inspiring thoughts of how Black History is American History, a part of everyone’s American experience.
A local business owner and active member of the Anderson community readily volunteered to sponsor this activity. Not only were community members a part of the process in developing the writing prompts, they were also involved in selecting the top three winning essays.
Our top three student writers were awarded gift cards in the amounts of $100, $50, and $25. They were also recognized not only at the building level but presented with award certificates during the March School Board of Education meeting at the Anderson Community Schools Administration Building.
Challenges or Obstacles:
- Challenges or obstacles to implementing this Best Practice would be organization, time, and staff buy-in.
- With the sometimes overwhelming amount of work placed on our teachers every day it would be challenging to ask “one more thing” of our staff without the time already being built into our school day.
- One would also need an 8-Step Process coordinator to initiate and maintain community involvement, create and distribute materials, and follow through with students and their families.
Benefits and Successes:
- There are multiple benefits and positive outcomes related to this Best Practice and we are looking forward to improving implementation and sponsoring another essay contest next year.
- Thirty-six students submitted a formal essay to the Black History Month Essay contest. An additional sixty-three students submitted “informally” by participating in the activity but not formalizing their work.
- The majority of Success Period teachers reported that their students actively used the writing prompts for shorter writing assignments and points of discussion.
- Of the thirty-six formal entries, three were chosen to place first, second, and third. Two additional students received honorable mention (and gift certificates to the sponsoring business.)
- Students were given practical, engaging topics to inspire them while improving their writing skills. Meaningful writing allows for self-reflection and the organization of thoughts and views.
- This activity increased our plan for effective community engagement and partnership by involving members of the community from the initial phase of creating the contest through the recognition of our students’ achievements and hard work.
- The culture and climate of the building was enhanced by embracing the significance of Black History month in a way that involved our entire student body. Citing the words of Morgan Freeman, “Black history is American history.”
Additional Information:
Click here for an example of the essay requirements and rubric
Click here for an example of the writing prompts
Submitted by: Ellen Finney Pickett, Anderson High School