Friday, November 14, 2008

The essay is worth 30% of the contest.  You need to write an essay of 750 to 1,000 words on this topic:

HOW DOES THE U.N. PROMOTE
IMPROVEMENTS IN WORLD HEALTH?

** The essay is due to me on November 14, 2008.  Do not give this to a teacher or anyone else!  Also, do not put your name on the essay.  This is so that our judges will not be influenced by who you are or where you live. 

** On a seperate "cover sheet", put your name, address, phone number, email address (if you have one), birth-date, school, and grade level.

** Have your school send me a copy of your high school transcript. This is used to confirm your grade level and school.  It may take more than a week for your school to do this, so do not put this off.  The transcript should cover your freshman year, plus your sophomore year if you are currently a junior.  It does not need to cover this current year at all.

You can mail this material to me or you can deliver this to me.  If it would be easier, you can attach the essay and the cover sheet to an email and send it to me.  You can ask your school to mail me the transcript directly. If you are home schooled and this is a problem, please contact me to discuss it.

We should be able to tell you by November 21st how many students will be competing and how many Delegates we will be sending this year. 

If we have more than 6 students turn in essays, only the contestants with the top 6 essay scores will be invited to the speech contest.  We normally only have 4 to 8 students compete each year.  In the 25 years I have been involved in the program, we have never had more than 13 students turn in an essay!  If we have over 12 students turn in an essay, our committee will reduce the number to only 12 essays for our judges to evaluate.  We will do this by using your GPA from your transcripts.  If this happens, it would be the only use of your GPA in this contest.

Do not turn this material in to anyone else.  We have had problems in the past with students leaving this with teachers who don't know what to do with it.

Feel free to contact me at any time.  I use email a great deal and prefer that, but feel free to call also.