Each year the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution conducts essay contests for any student attending a public, private, parochial school or a home schooled student. The contest is conducted without regard to race, religion, sex or national origin.
For 2014, the essay contest topics are: American History Essay - Grades 5-8, “A Child’s Journey through Ellis Island” and for students in grades 9-12 the Christopher Columbus Essay topic is “Joining Christopher Columbus on His Voyage to the New World”.
The American History essay contest is judged at several levels with the one winning essay at each grade level moving forward to the next level: local chapter, state, division, and national. At the national level one essay in each grade is selected as the national winner with the winners attending the NSDAR’s national meeting “Continental Congress” in June 2015, where this person will receive a certificate, gold pin, and monetary award. The winning essays may also appear in official DAR communications. The number of words in each should be: Grade 5: 300-600 words and Grades 6-8: 600-1,000 words.
The Christopher Columbus essay contest, all essays are judged with the one winning essay moving forward to each level: local, state, division, and national. One essay is selected as the national winner with the winner invited to attend NSDAR’s national meeting “Continental Congress” to be recognized. Judging at the national level is conducted by the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF). The national winner will receive $1,200 from the NIAF in addition to paid lodging and transportation to Washington, D.C. The national winner must read the prize-winning essay at the Columbus Memorial, Washington, D.C. on Columbus Day (October 12, 2015). Second prize national winner will receive $500 and Third place national winner will receive $300. The number of words in each essay is to be 800-1,000.
The local schools will be provided with more detailed information about the essay contest, but if it is not available have your teacher or school contact the Grinnell Chapter DAR in September. All essays should be completed by Dec. 1 and submitted to your school. Each school will need to submit the essays to the Grinnell Chapter DAR no later than Dec. 5.