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 5, 2023 - October 3, 2023

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 Community Relations Specialist at 937-610-4429 or send an email to: communityrelations@wclibrary.info.

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• 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, Ph.D., Astrophysics, Rhodes Scholar, Runner, Rower, 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 in 2018 at the University of Oxford in England as a Rhodes Scholar. For fun, Rebecca rowed for the Blue Boat at Oxford (2017), was CoSIDA Women's Div I Track & Field Academic All-American of the Year (2015), and now she enjoys paddleboarding on the Gulf Coast. A C-130 pilot for the Air Force, her dream is to become an astronaut.

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• 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.

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• Complete the writing challenge in 300-500 words.
• Essays must be the student's original work. Essays that are plagiarized or written with assistance from Chat GPT are not allowed.
• Entries of less than 300 words or more than 500 words will be disqualified.
• 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.

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• Submit entry online using the official online entry form (link visible when contest opens) between September 5 and October 3.
• 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.

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"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go..."  ˜ Dr. Seuss (aka author Theodore3 Geisel (1904-1991)

"Be well. Do well. Have a lot of fun. "  ˜ Nancy Cartwright, voice of Bart Simpson (1957 - )

Step 1: Develop a Plan

Review the criteria by which you will be judged.

Step 2: Write to the Prompt

Invitation:

It takes a lot of thought, imagination, and practice to lay a good foundation for your life. When you are busy and active, there is less chance to be bored. Staying busy and active contributes to happiness and helps you set and achieve your goals, and being happy builds self-esteem and confidence. Think about how you spend your time and with whom. It could be friends, family, or the things that interest you and occupy your time.

Prompt:

Describe how you are laying a foundation for your life. Think about what you want to achieve and what steps you are taking to get what you want. Reflect on how outside influences such as family, friends, faith, or activities contribute to your self-esteem and confidence. Give specific examples on how these outside influences help to make you a stronger, better person. Describe how you think these influences will contribute to your happiness and lead you down the right path in life.

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