Basic education and literacy are together one of the 6 areas of focus of Rotary International. I believe that every Rotary club should be directly involved in or support a local project that seeks to improve the literacy - the ability to read and write - of the people in the area that it serves.
This spring the Edmeston Rotary Club joined forces with the Edmeston Central School District high school English department to create its first annual writing contest for students in grades 9-12. Students were assigned to write either a narrative essay or a poem around a specific theme. This year’s theme was “an important life event.”
Those pieces were then submitted to a panel of Rotary club members for review and judging.
Cash prizes and certificates of recognition, provided by the Rotary Club, were given at an awards assembly to the first, second, and third place winners for both the poetry and narrative categories, at both the 9-10 and 11-12 grade levels. Two additional grand prize winners across grades 9-12, one for the best narrative essay and one for the best poem, were also recognized.
All of the students who participated in the contest, whether they had been selected as winners or not, were thanked by the Rotarians and given a full sized chocolate bar as a recognition of their efforts. The Edmeston Rotary Club and the ECS High school English department faculty are both looking forward to repeating the contest next year. Teachers, Rotarians, and prize winners are pictured above.
All of the students who participated in the contest, whether they had been selected as winners or not, were thanked by the Rotarians and given a full sized chocolate bar as a recognition of their efforts. The Edmeston Rotary Club and the ECS High school English department faculty are both looking forward to repeating the contest next year. Teachers, Rotarians, and prize winners are pictured above.