Contest Information and Topic Guidelines  

The goal of this contest is to sensitize the participants to some of the issues associated with homelessness, dispel some misconceptions about homelessness, and to cultivate a bit of empathy and respect for those in our communities experiencing homelessness.

​This contest is open to the following students:
  • United States middle school and high school students in grades seven through twelve attending public, private, charter, parochial, or home schools
​​
Eligible students are invited to submit essays about homelessness.  Topics may span issues related to homelessness including:
  • Causes of homelessness
  • Challenges faced by people experiencing homelessness
  • Community responses to homelessness
  • Ideas of things that you could do to alleviate homelessness and poverty or to encourage respect for someone who is experiencing homelessness
  • See the Suggested Topics page for additional topic ideas 

Key Dates:
  • ​Application Deadline:  Sunday,  15 January 2017, 11:59 PM PST  
    • Note: The application deadline has been extended to Saturday, 21 January 2017
  • Acceptance Notification Date:   Sunday, 22 January 2017  
  • Essay Submission Deadline:  Sunday, 21 May 2017, 11:59 PM PST
  • Winners will be notified by Sunday, 9 July 2017

Prizes

  • 1st place  - The Zinedine Colombant Lightness Award:   $1000
  • 2nd place:  $500, if more than twenty-five essays are received
  • 3rd place:  $300,  if more than fifty essays are received
  • 4th place:  $200,  if more than seventy-five essays are received​

  • All essays will be considered for inclusion in our collaborative book project

Eligibility and Requirements

  • Submission deadline: Sunday, 21 May 2017, 11:59 PM PST
  • Word count must be between 1000 and 2500 words.  Citations and bibliography are not to be included in the word count.  While we would prefer to receive shorter, concisely written essays, we understand that some topics and ideas will require more space to properly develop. 
  • Submission should be double spaced with the following font:
    • Times New Roman, 12 point
  • Essays must be the original work of the student.
  • We would like for contestants to write from an informed position with some experiential context. We've included a short list of suggested reading materials on the Resources page. 
  • Homelessness encompasses a wide range of social justice concerns. While we have compiled a list of suggested topics  to consider, contestants may write about any aspect of homelessness they find compelling.
  • Contestants are encouraged to  participate in an activity of their choosing that will provide opportunities to interact with homeless persons,  relief workers, activists,  etc.  This might include things like:
    • Serving meals to the homeless
    • Volunteering at a homeless shelter
    • Providing tutoring to a homeless child

Source Material 

  • Essays must use at least one source. Essays not meeting this requirement will be disqualified.
  • All participants must cite sources they used to research their topic throughout their essay. Please use parenthetical citations within the text. 

Application

We will read each submission, and we intend to return a critiqued copy to each contestant. Accordingly, we will be accepting a limited number of essays for consideration.  
  • Application Deadline: Sunday,  15 January 2017, 11:59 PM PST
  • Please complete the Application Form, and explain why this contest interests you and how you plan to satisfy the experiential component ( you can find a description of the components for a strong essay under the Guidelines page ).  
  • We will notify you by email if your essay proposal is selected for consideration.

Essay Submission

  • Essays must be submitted online. We will accept essays in pdf, doc, and docx formats.
  • Contestants will be asked to submit a log of any service hours performed as part of this contest.
  • Contestants will be asked to provide contact information of a teacher who can vouch for their work.
  • We will  send out a link to the submission form closer to the submission deadline date. 

Questions