Rotary Club Fetes Essay Contest Winners

The Rotary Club of Novato Sunrise is about to conclude its seventh annual Laws of Life Essay Contest for Novato students, its most significant annual event. The 2013 Awards Ceremony is scheduled for 6:30 to 8:30 PM on Thurs., April 18, at the Hill School Auditorium in Novato.

“The essay contest provides Novato students a platform for expressing the personal attitudes, values and beliefs they hold important,” said Rotarian Chris Major. “In a world so embraced in technology, the art of written communication is becoming less important to our society. For many youth, they feel their voice is unimportant. The "Laws of Life" give them a powerful of tool of empowerment — and a voice that needs to be heard.”

In 2006, with seed money from The Templeton Foundation, the Rotary Club of Novato Sunrise conducted its initial essay contest in which they asked students in Novato to write about any “Law of Life” which had a meaningful impact on their lives.

By this time, they have received more than 4,000 essays from students.

“And they wrote wonderfully about many important experiences,” said Rotarian Robert Kuchem.

Sir John Templeton, the financial master who began Franklin Templeton Funds, created the Laws of Life Essay concept about 20 years ago. These essay contests now occur in many cities, states, and other countries.

The contest rules have been simple. The club asks for brief, typewritten essays of about 500 words. They announce the contest through the English teachers in the various schools, and we give the students plenty of time to prepare the essays.

We ask that each essay clearly define one “Law of Life,” typically a saying or maxim that offers wisdom. For example, “Honesty is the best policy,” or “Do not judge people by their clothes or their jobs,” or “It is never too late to change.” Each year, the students offer interesting and important observations.

At the awards ceremony, the Rotary will honor the winning students and announce their specific prizes at that time. For each of the contest categories, middle school and high school, they will be awarding cash prizes of $300 for first prize, $200 for second prize, $100 for third prize, and $50 each for the honorable mention prizes. In addition, $100 awards will be presented to the teachers of both first prize winners.

Readers of Novato Patch are welcome to attend.

The guest speaker at this year’s ceremony will be a member of the club, Chris Major, who has recently returned from a Rotary visit to Uganda and Nigeria where he addressed many youth groups. Major is also a substitute teacher for the Novato Unified School District, and he is involved in promotional work for St. Mary’s College in Moraga.

“With so many essays being submitted each year, not all students are going to be honored with a cash prize,” Kuchem said. “However, every student who conscientiously made an effort to write an essay can be considered to be a winner because they each reflected upon an important value in life. Years from now, perhaps when they are challenged by difficult circumstances, a recall of what they learned from writing their essays will steer them to make good decisions. Perhaps that, in itself, is a Law of Life.”

Call Kuchem at (415) 898-2075 or email him at kuchem.insurance@gmail.com with any questions.

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