Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Commission Student Essay Contest - Deadline Extended to December 8, 2017

Wed, 11/08/2017 - 3:40pm

The Howard County Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Commission invites Howard County middle and high school students to participate in the Commission’s annual Student Essay Contest. The winners will be recognized at the Commission’s Annual Celebration on Sunday, January 14, 2018, at Reservoir High School, 11550 Scaggsville Rd, Fulton, MD 20759.

To be eligible for the contest, students must be a Howard County resident and in either middle or high school. Essays must be typed and double-spaced, in the Microsoft Word format, and it needs to include the following information: student’s name, address, telephone number, email address, name of school, and student grade. Middle school student essays are to be between 500 to 750 words in length, while high school student essays must be between 750 to 1,000 words. Essays will be judged on content, connection to Dr. King’s work, spelling, grammar, and sentence structure. 

Students with disabilities may submit entries that address the essay question through use of other media (posters, pictures, etc.). All submitted essays and entries become the property of the Commission.   

For their entry, students are to reflect upon Dr. King’s statement, which is the event theme this year: “If I cannot do great things, I will do small things in a great way.”  And the essay question is “How do you translate Dr. King’s vision in today’s times?” Based on this statement, students are asked to focus on both the present and the future, how Dr. King inspired them to work towards a greater cause.

All completed nomination forms must be emailed or postmarked by 5:00 p.m., Friday, December 8, 2017, to Dr. MLK Student Essay Contest, c/o Howard County Office of Human Rights, 6751 Columbia Gateway Drive, Suite 239, Columbia, MD 21046, or emailed to SubmissionsMLK@howardcountymd.gov.

Essay finalists and their respective school will be notified by email and phone. Their names will be posted on the Commission’s webpage, https://www.howardcountymd.gov/Departments/County-Administration/Human-Rights/Boards-and-Commissions, by January 5, 2018. First, second, and third place high school student winners will be awarded $300, $250, and $200, respectively. First, second and third place middle school student winners will be awarded $250, $200, and $150, respectively.

For more information or questions, contact Farheen Sheik in the Office of Human Rights at 410-313-6467 or email fsheik@howardcountymd.gov.