Barrow High School Students are Invited to Participate in a National Essay Contest

Barrow County high school students are invited to join teens around the country  to participate in the Bill of Rights Institute’s sixth annual Being an American Essay Contest.

The contest is the largest of its kind in the country.

“This contest is unique in that it gives students the opportunity to think about the important Founding principles communicated in our Constitution,” Jason Ross, the Bill of Rights Institute's vice president of education programs, said in a news release. “This context is vital to helping students see their Founding principles as a meaningful part of the American experiment of self-government.”

Students are asked to share their thoughts on the Constitution by answering this question: “How does the Constitution establish and maintain a culture of liberty?”

The top three student winners from each of five geographical regions — Barrow is included in the Southern region — will be awarded cash prizes of $1,000 for first place, $500 for second place and $250 for third place. Teacher sponsors for each student winner will also receive a cash prize of $100.

The Southern region includes Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, D.C., West Virginia as well as Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands.

According to the Bill of Rights Institute, more than 80,000 students have participated in the essay contest since it began in 2006.

Students in grades nine through 12 who are U.S.citizens or legal residents and are either attending public, private, religious or charter schools, being home-schooled or participating in a GED or correspondence school program but are no older than 19 years of age are eligible to participate in the contest, which will be judge by high school teachers. 

Essays should be more more than 1,000 words in length and will be judged based on the following criteria:

• Adherence to essay question
• Originality
• Organization
• Writing style
• Depth of analysis

Essays should be submitted online and the deadline is Dec. 15. Winners will be announced in February 2012.

Visit www.BillofRightsInstitute.org/Contest for additional contest guidelines.