We are excited to announce the top 3 winners of the Promise Story Essay Contest!
1st Place: ” Two Way Street”Alison from Gabrielino High School
2nd Place: ” A Choice” Sophia from Smithson Valley High School
3rd Place: ” A Living Promise” Jazmin from Canyon High School
Why This Essay Contest?
Because I said I would started with Alex’s promise to his dad. That promise, and what came after, has launched a movement where millions have been inspired to make and keep their own promises.
As people began to share these promise stories via social media and our website, even more stories of amazing promises began to pour in. We refer to this phenomenon as the infinite loop; the more people share, the more people inspire others to share, and the loop goes on and on.
As we expand our Chapter programs in high schools around the world, we have heard stories from our students that have the capability of inspiring so many others. Which is why we created this contest; in order to help grow these stories and hear from our students. This essay content will allow our high school students to be able to share their stories with the rest of our movement and help continue the infinite loop.
The Prompt: What has been the most impactful promise in your life?
We thought we’d start things off with an essential question: This can be a promise you made to yourself, to someone else, or one that someone made to you. Broken promises can be just as impactful, so your Promise Story can be about one that was kept or one that was broken. For inspiration, check out some of our Promise Story videos below:
Find more videos on our YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/user/becauseisaidiwould/
Contest Guidelines
Entries must:
· Be written by a current high school student
· Relate to the contest theme
· Have a title that is relevant to the composition
· Be no longer than the 1,000 word maximum
· Begin with an MLA-formatted header (name, school, because I said I would essay contest, date submitted)
· Be typed, double-spaced, in 12-point type (easily read text fonts)
· Have numbered pages
When/How to submit:
· Entries are to be submitted online using the form below
·Deadline Extended! Entries must be submitted no later than midnight on Thursday April 30th.
· Only one entry per student is permitted.
· Regardless of age, all students must complete and submit a waiver and release form that can be found at the link below. Any entry by a student who did not complete the waiver and release form, will not be eligible.
Judging Process
· Winners will be chosen based on their interpretation of the prompt, storytelling techniques, and creativity (see rubric online).
· All entries are judged blindly (no names or school names).
· Winners will be notified by email and announced on our social media pages
If you would like to view the rubric that essays will be evaluated with please CLICK HERE to view.
Prizes
· First Place: $250 Cash Prize
· Second Place: $50 Cash Prize
· Third Place: a because I said I would sweatshirt, wristband and journal
All winning essays will also be featured on our website and social media accounts
We are looking forward to reading your submissions! If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at promises@becauseisadiwould.org