Teachers!  Have you and your students been on a field trip to the Environmental Interpretive Center (EIC) this year?  Do you know students who are expressive and love to write?  Please encourage them to submit their work for this creative writing competition!

Who:  This competition is open to young writers who are in grades 4-8 and have attended at least one of our natural history programs during the 2012-2013 school year. 

What:  The writing should focus on the author’s visit to the EIC’s Environmental Study Area and can be a fictional story or a personal reflection of his/her experience. Suggested themes include why natural areas are important, “A day in the life of” something that lives in the natural area, or how being in nature makes one feel.

When:  All entries must be received or postmarked by May 25, 2013.

Guidelines:

1. Contestants must have been EIC program participants.
2. Submissions can be fiction or nonfiction.
3. There are two competitive levels for submissions: grades 4-5 and grades 6-8.
4. Maximum word counts: grades 4-5, 500 words (avg. 1 typed page, double spaced); grades 6-8, 1000 words (avg. 2 typed pages, double spaced).
5. Names of all participants will be published on the EIC website and its newsletter. 
6. One 1st place, one 2nd place and one honorable mention will be awarded in each competitive level.  Winning entries will be published on the website.
7. Electronic submissions are preferred and can be submitted as a pdf, doc, wpf or other common text file.  Submissions can also be mailed or hand-delivered.
8. Submissions will not be returned and become property of the EIC.

Submit your essay online HERE!

Instructions for submission via mail here!

 

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