04.17.08
Posted in Scholarships, Contests, Reading programs and the like at 6:48 pm by Meg
I remember growing up and singing Dancing Queen in my bedroom with my friends using hairbrushes and whatever else was available as microphones. Image what fun it was to see the musical Mamma Mia this past year and watch them do that on the stage.
It was corny, but enjoyable fun. I will admit that I’m looking forward to the movie.
And now I find out there’s a chance to recreate that Dancing Queen experience, as part of the movie lead-up Pond’s is running a contest for woman over 40 (yep, that’s me!) and two friends to audition as a real-life Donna and the Dynamos.
The winning trio get to go to London for the world premier of the movie!
To enter you need to either make it to NYC on April 28 to audition live, or send them a video of the three of you by April 30.
I don’t have the guts to actually do, but it you do, let me know and I’ll vote for your video!
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01.17.08
Posted in Scholarships, Contests, Reading programs and the like at 8:50 am by Meg
Any high school aged kids want a chance to get published?
Sylvan Dell Publishing is hosting a 2nd annual Picture Book Writing Competition for Homeschooled Students!
Sylvan Dell owners, Lee and Donna German, homeschooled their three daughters and, inspired by their own experience, wish to continue nurturing creative freedom among homeschooled students. This competition is open to any homeschooled student at the high school level. The winning author will receive $200 and serious consideration for publication.
Students wishing to submit manuscripts should follow the submissionguidelines posted on the Sylvan Dell Web site. Here’s a brief summary of the guidelines:
Eligibility: Homeschooled students working at a high school level.
Manuscripts should subtly convey an educational theme through warm, engaging story. Sylvan Dell’s current catalog focuses on teaching science and math through literature.
Manuscripts should be written for one of the following age ranges: 3 to 7, 4 to 8, 5 to 9, or 6 to 10. Authors should be mindful of age-appropriate words.
Manuscripts should not exceed 1,500 words. Picture books are typically less than 1,000 words, so novels and short stories will not be considered. As this is a writing competition, illustrations will not be accepted.
Electronic submission only. Manuscripts must be attached to an e-mail message as a Word document. Submission e-mails should be sent only to MaggieStuart between March 1 and March 31, 2008, with “Homeschool Writing Contest Submission”; and the manuscript title in the subject line. Students must include their name, date of birth and contact information in the e-mail. Do your children qualify? Read the complete submission guidelines to find out!
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11.19.07
Posted in Scholarships, Contests, Reading programs and the like at 9:28 am by Meg
Last week our local homeschooling group went to the Indianapolis Museum of Art to see a special exhibit - 2000 year old (approximately) sculptures from Rome. These sculptures are from the Louvre and this tour is the first time in about 200 years that they have been on display somewhere else. They are going to be in Indy until January 6th and then I think they are going to Seattle.
We set up the tour as a school group and when we left, the museum gave us 4 free passes for each person to come back.
Well, that’s all great for brick and mortar school trips, but when homeschoolers are already coming through with their whole families - they don’t need that many spare tickets. For example, the three of us came home with 12 free passes!
And I’ve spent the last week offering the spare passes to anyone local who wants them. I still have our free passes left.
So, I thought I’d raffle them off here - of course you have to be within distance to get to Indianapolis to use them - I can’t do much about that.
So, if you are interested: Read the rest of this entry »
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11.04.07
Posted in Scholarships, Contests, Reading programs and the like at 7:48 pm by Meg
I haven’t posted any contests for a while ’cause nothing has come by that looks interesting….but this one does and it’s explicitly open to homeschooled high school students!
Awards - (including eligibility for significant tuition scholarships if you enroll at IUPUI.)
- First Place Winner $200
- Second Place Winner $100
- Third Place Winner $50
- 4 Fourth Place Winners $25
- 25 Honorable Mentions $10 gift card
Rules -
- Contestant must be a high school student or a home-schooled student of high school age (in Indiana, a lot of kids are 19 when they graduate high school)
- Only one poem per contestant may be submitted
- Deadline — Monday, February 4, 2008
- Entry must be in English
- Poem must be 25 lines or fewer
- No E-mail or fax submissions will be accepted
- Only winners will be notified by mail
- The judges regret that they cannot return or comment on individual poems
Entries -
To submit your entry on-line: CLICK HERE
You will be required to attach an electronic copy of your poem (MS Word preferred). Please make sure the electronic document contains your poem and its title only. On-line entries must be submitted by Monday, February 4, 2008.
To submit your entry by mail:
Please follow instructions on Mail-in Form. Download printable version in pdf format (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) or in Word format. Mail-in entries must be postmarked by Monday, February 4, 2008.
For more information contact:
Richard Turner
Phone:317-278-4697
Email:rturner@iupui.edu
Sponsors:
IUPUI Office of Academic Affairs
IU School of Liberal Arts
Barnes and Noble Booksellers
Now to talk Boy into doing it!
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03.31.07
Posted in Scholarships, Contests, Reading programs and the like, Books at 8:25 am by Meg
We’ve already missed the cutoff date for the 9th/10th grade essay, but if there are two more if you have a teen that has read Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged.
THE FOUNTAINHEAD - For 11th and 12th Graders
Entry Deadline: April 25, 2007
FIRST PRIZE: $10,000
5 SECOND PRIZES: $2,000
10 THIRD PRIZES: $1,000
45 FINALISTS: $100
175 SEMIFINALISTS: $50
THE FOUNTAINHEAD–TOPICS
Select ONE of the following three topics:
1) The conventional view is that in life one can either achieve practical success or be moral, but not both. What view of this relation do you think emerges in The Fountainhead? What is the novel’s conception of success? Of morality? Explain by reference to characters and events of the story.
2) For each of the following quotations from The Fountainhead, explain its meaning in the story and its wider significance.
a) Gail Wynand (to Howard Roark): “There’s a particular kind of people that I despise. Those who seek some sort of a higher purpose or ‘universal goal,’ who don’t know what to live for, who moan that they must ‘find themselves.’” (Part IV, Chapter 5)
b) Peter Keating (to Dominique Francon): “I’d rather you’d express an opinion, God damn it, just once!” (Part III, Chapter 2)
c) Howard Roark (to Ellsworth Toohey): “But I don’t think of you.” (Part II, Chapter 15)
3) In Roark’s courtroom speech, he discusses the conflicts of the creator versus the second-hander and of egoism versus altruism. What is the nature of these conflicts and the relationship between the creator and egoism and between the second-hander and altruism? How do characters and events of The Fountainhead dramatize these conflicts and relationships? Explain.
Essay must be no fewer than 800 and no more than 1,600 words in length, and must be typewritten and double-spaced. One entry per student, please.
ATLAS SHRUGGED - For college students (including students that will be freshman in Sept, 2007 - ie. Seniors now.)
Deadline: Sept 17, 2007
FIRST PRIZE: $10,000
3 SECOND PRIZES: $2,000
5 THIRD PRIZES: $1,000
20 FINALISTS: $100
20 SEMIFINALISTS: $50
ATLAS SHRUGGED—TOPICS
Select ONE of the following three topics:
1) A considerable part of the story of Atlas Shrugged deals with issues of justice. What is the account of justice that emerges in the novel? How does it compare to other, culturally-influential accounts of justice?
2) For each of the following passages from Atlas Shrugged, explain its meaning, its relation to the story, and its wider significance.
a) James Taggart: “I don’t know [what the phrase ‘Who is John Galt?’ stands for] … But the way people use it, they always seem to say it out of—”
Dagny Taggart: “Fear? Despair? Futility?”
James Taggart: “Yes … yes, that’s what it is.”
Dagny Taggart: “That’s what I want to throw in their faces!” [Part 1, Chapter VII]
b) Eddie Willers [to Dagny Taggart]: “We can’t fight it. It can’t be answered. We can’t demand a retraction. We can’t show them our tests or prove anything. They’ve said nothing. They haven’t said a thing that could be refuted and embarrass them professionally. It’s the job of a coward. You’d expect it from some con-man or blackmailer. But, Dagny! It’s the State Science Institute!” [Part 1, Chapter VII]
c) Francisco D’Anconia: “ … why is it that throughout man’s history the Nat Taggarts, who make the world, have always won—and always lost it to the men of the Board?”
Dagny Taggart: “I … don’t know.”
[Part 2, Chapter V]
3) An important early event in the novel is the destruction of the Phoenix-Durango. What factors make its destruction possible? How does this issue relate to the meaning and theme of Atlas Shrugged?
Essay must be no fewer than 1,000 and no more than 1,200 words in length, and must be typewritten and double-spaced. One entry per student, please.
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