Dottie Yeck Good Life Award Writing Contest

Honoring the life of Dottie Yeck, a champion of children, who believed that one is never too young to have an impact on the world.

Contest Dates: September 2, 2025 - October 7, 2025

Entrants must live or attend school in Montgomery County, Ohio, and be enrolled in a curriculum for grades 7-9.

You could win the top prize of $3,000! Three additional prizes of $500, $350, and $250. Honorable Mentions will receive a certificate and be individually recognized.

For more information call the Executive Coordinator at 937-610-4429 or send an email to: libadmin@wclibrary.info.

• Check out these great books and movies that will inspire you to live a good life!
• Read the winning entries from past years.
• See a list of represented schools.

Meet Rebecca (Esselstein) Shotwell, Ph.D., Astrophysics, Rhodes Scholar, Pilot, Aspiring Astronaut

Rebecca is a graduate of Alter High School (Valedictorian) and the U.S. Air Force Academy (Top Academic Graduate and Top Overall Graduate, 2015), where she studied Astronautical Engineering. She's a native of Washington Township and completed her PhD in Astrophysics at the University of Oxford in England as a Rhodes Scholar. For fun Rebecca rowed for the varsity Blue Boat at Oxford (2017), was CoSIDA Women's Div I Track & Field Academic All-American of the Year (2015), and she enjoys paddleboarding on the Gulf Coast when she's not flying C-130s for the Air Force. Mostly, however, she loves spending time with her husband, Caleb, and their cat, Gibbs.

• Entrants must be enrolled in a curriculum for grades 7 - 9 at the time the entry is submitted.
• Entrants must live or attend school in Montgomery County, Ohio.
• Prior Good Life Award $3000 prize winners are not eligible for this contest.
• Family members of Washington-Centerville Public Library staff and contest judges are not eligible for this contest.

• Complete the writing challenge in 300-500 words (entries of less than 300 words or more than 500 words will be disqualified).
• Essays must be the student's original work. Essays that are plagiarized or written with assistance from Chat GPT, or other AI assistance, are not allowed.
• Late entries will not be accepted.
• Submit only one entry per person.
• Certify the work was written by you and expresses your original ideas which you have developed. By submitting your entry to the Good Life Award, you guarantee the work as your own.
• Agree to attend the Good Life Celebration award ceremony if you win either the GLA Award or 2nd, 3rd or 4th place.

• Submit entry online using the official online entry form between September 2 and October 7.
• Copy and paste your final entry into the textbox. (Please be sure that your name and school are NOT included in the main body of your entry.)
• The title is not included in the word count.

Step 1: Develop a Plan

Review the criteria by which you will be judged.

Step 2: Write to the Prompt

Invitation:

Each year we focus on one of the four elements of Mrs. Dorothy Yeck’s equation for how to lead a life that is fun, purposeful, and happy: Being Good + Doing Good = Having Fun + Being Happy. This year’s emphasis is on "Being Happy" and how attitude can affect you and those around you. Write a 300-to-500-word essay. Copy and paste your final entry into the text box on the entry page. Your name and school name cannot be in the main body of your entry.

Prompt:

Describe a time when you chose to "be happy" even when others were not happy around you. How did your choice make a difference for you? Did it influence others? What lessons did you learn in that situation about the power of choosing your attitude? How will your attitude be influenced in the future?

• Decisions of the judges and administrator are final.
• Adherence to all rules and challenge guidelines are basic requirements of this contest.
• The following criteria will be used to score the essays:

Here are some things to think about as you write:

1. Give details about the situation in which you choose to be happy. Explain your example fully (all elements of what, when, where, why, and how).
2. Perhaps others were indifferent or disagreeable with your situation, your choice. Why do you think you persisted in choosing to be positive, confident … happy? (cite your personal emotions, values, beliefs, personality attributes, etc.)
3. How did your choice, your control, affect others around you and in what ways? Did your happiness influence others to be happy, too? Explain how and why?
4. What did you learn about the power of attitude and its usefulness to you and possibly others around you (young or old)?
5. Will you use this lesson (your happiness experience) in the future? Predict when and the reasons why you might need or use this strength again?
6. Any quotes, poems, songs, lines, adages, scripture, etc., you might want to use to capture this power of personal attitude or personal choice that you might want to share or use as support?

• First Place Winner: $3,000
• Second Place Winner: $500
• Third Place Winner: $350
• Fourth Place Winner: $250
• Honorable Mentions: Certificate of Achievement
• A check for $250 will be awarded to the class of the Good Life Award winner.

• The 2025 Dottie Yeck Good Life Award Celebration hosted by Washington-Centerville Public Library will be held at the Woodbourne Library on Thursday, December 4, 7:00 PM - 8:15 PM. Visit our Calendar of Events for more information about the Celebration Evening.
• Join us for an inspiring evening as we celebrate the winners and Honorable Mentions of the 20th Annual Dottie Yeck Good Life Award writing contest! Listen to nationally known speaker, author, consultant, and local resident Fran Kick as he puts his unique spin on life's perspectives and invites you to Kick It In! and Take the Lead.
• Top four winners agree to present their essays for the Good Life Celebration hosted by Washington-Centerville Public Library.
• This is a free program.

Dottie Yeck Good Life Award Endowment