Listen to a Life Essay Contest
-- School Library Journal, 3/4/2009
Give your students an opportunity to learn about real life from real people. The annual Listen to a Life Essay Contest is an opportunity to build closer connections between young and old as they get to know each other in new, often unexpected ways. To enter, young people ages 8 to 18 years old interview a person over 50 years old about their hopes and goals through their life, how they achieved goals and overcame obstacles, or how their dreams may have changed along the way. Each applicant must submit a 300-word essay based on the interview.The Grand Prize includes a Lenovo ThinkCentre computer for the student and $25,000 of Orchard educational software for the school. The contest is part of the national Legacy Project with the nonprofit Generations United in Washington, DC. A free online activity kit is available on the Legacy Project Website which includes life interview ideas and goal-setting activities with curriculum connections that include Different Dreams, Goal-Busters and Goal-Getters, Life List, and Club of Dreamers. The Listen to a Life Contest deadline is March 30, 2009. Entries can be submitted online on the Legacy Project Listen to a Life webpage.
