My City Magazine recognizes the value of not only education, but also the written word. To encourage and motivate Greater Flint’s younger City-zens, My City Magazine is proud to present an opportunity for Genesee County high school seniors: an essay contest with a grand prize scholarship valued at $2,500!
Prompt 1: Compose an essay about how Greater Flint/Genesee County, their community, their school, a significant person, or a significant event has shaped who you are.
Word Count: Minimum 500 words – Maximum 1,000 words
Due Date: All submissions must be submitted no later than 11:59pm on June 30th, 2016.
Prompt 2: Compose an essay about your thoughts on social media. Defined the topic as you see it in today’s world. How has it impacted you? The topic is open to interpretation and we are looking for original and creative ideas.
Word Count: Minimum 500 words – Maximum 1,000 words
Due Date: All submissions must be submitted no later than 11:59pm on September 30th, 2016.
Grand Prize Scholarship winner will be announced January 1, 2017
Scholarship Amounts
- The Grand Prize Scholarship – $2,500
- 1st Place – $500
- 2nd Place – $250
- 3rd Place – $250
- Winners will be announced, and those essays will be printed in My City Magazine.
Submit Via Mail
If you wish to submit your essay via postal service. Please fill out the following form and have it printed with your submission. Click Here for Form.
Send Submissions to the following:
My City Magazine Essay Contest
5152 Commerce Road
Flint, MI 48507
Call for Entries:
Call for entries will be in two separate contests: the deadlines are June 30, 2016 and September 30, 2016. To enter the contest, students must submit an essay following the given prompts. All entries must be from a registered GISD high school student with senior status. Essays should have an overall positive theme, and students are encouraged to experiment with style and subject; however, we are looking for a personal narrative – a true story that has a beginning, middle, end, and a purpose. Once submitted to My City Magazine, the essays will be judged according to criteria and the contest rules.
After the last group of candidates is announced in December, My City Magazine readers and friends and family of the candidates will be invited to visit our website to vote for their favorite of the 1st Place essays. The My City Magazine Essay Contest Committee will make the final decision, but the community’s votes will act as a tool to help the Committee decide the Grand Prize Scholarship winner.
My City Magazine’s goal is to inspire readers to connect with the community. Similarly, we want to connect back! We believe that we will achieve this by motivating the community’s students to pursue their education, as well as express their unique stories; after all, it’s “Their City,” too.
Essay Rubric
- All entries will be read by the My City Magazine Essay Contest Committee.
- The Committee will consider: Original voice, unique style, fresh point of view, creativity, descriptive language, authenticity or “realness,” and overall clarity and control over the writing.
- Adherence to basic English spelling/grammar/mechanic rules.
- All entries will be read in conjunction with the rules and requirements listed above and on the website, the prompt, and then judged accordingly.
| 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
| Message | Clear and compelling central message crafted with strong awareness of audience and purpose. Message is grounded in concrete language and examples. | Clear central message crafted with general awareness of audience and purpose. Message is grounded in some concrete language and examples. | Vague evidence of a central message with inconsistent awareness of audience and purpose. Message, language, or examples may be overly abstract. | Little or no evidence of a central message with minimal awareness of audience and purpose. Few, if any, concrete examples. |
| Organization | All organizational strategies and structures work effectively to convey intended message to the reader. | Most organizational strategies and structures work to convey intended message to the reader. | Some organizational strategies and structures work to convey intended message to the reader. | Few or no organizational strategies and structures work to convey intended message to the reader. |
| Originality | Keeps reader engaged from beginning to end through original and interesting use of ideas, language, plot, personal development, dialogue, imagery, etc. | Engages reader most of the way through the piece through mostly original and interesting use of ideas, language, plot, personal development, dialogue, imagery, etc. | Offers little originality in ideas, language, plot, dialogue, imagery, etc. Readers may lose interest. | Lacks originality in ideas, language, plot, imagery, etc. Reader will not get past first few sentences or lines. |
| Clarity | Although challenging and perhaps not easily understood, work has a clarity that leaves no surface questions (i.e. “What happened in this part?”) in reader’s mind. | Has a clarity that leaves few surface questions (i.e. “What happened in this part?”) in reader’s mind. | Leaves several surface questions (i.e. “What happened in this part?”) in reader’s mind. | Narrative is completely murky because of significant and unintentional gaps or contradictions in logic, plot, character, imagery, voice, point of view, setting, etc. |
| Conventions | Thorough control of sentence formation. Few errors, if any, are present in grammar, usage, spelling, and punctuation, but the errors that are present do not interfere with meaning. | Adequate control of sentence formation. Some errors may be present in grammar, usage, spelling, and punctuation, but few, if any, of the errors that are present may interfere with meaning. | Limited and/or inconsistent control of sentence formation. Some sentences may be awkward or fragmented. Many errors may be present in grammar, usage, spelling, and punctuation, and some of those errors may interfere with meaning. | Minimal control of sentence formation. Many sentences are awkward and fragmented. Many errors may be present in grammar, usage, spelling, and punctuation. Many of those errors interfere with meaning. |