Students

Directions for entering the National Peace Essay Contest

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How will your essay be Judged?

Essays are sent to state-level judges--qualified experts selected by the Institute who evaluate the essays according to the criteria described below. National winners are selected from among the first-place state essays by the Institute's Board of Directors. The judges' decisions are final. The Institute reserves the right to present no awards at the state and national levels, or to reduce the number of awards if an insufficient number of deserving entries is received.

An excellent essay uses well-researched ideas and facts to hold together logical and compelling argument(s) and presents thoughtful solution(s) to the problem. It also reflects a student's ability to organize complex facts and ideas, to bring in his/her own interesting perspectives and ideas to the analysis and recommendation(s), and to pay attention to writing style and mechanics (grammer, syntax, and punctuation).

Be sure to follow the essay requirements when writing your essay!

Students: Please follow these instructions to participate in the contest.

Let your coordinator know about your intention to enter the contest. Ask the coordinator to review the directions for entering the contest, both the student section and coordinator section.
Follow the essay requirements carefully to write your essay. When the final draft is ready, ask your coordinator to review your essay to make sure you have followed all the guidelines and directions.
Prepare your essay. View an example essay for formatting help.
- Include the title of the essay centered at the top of the first page of your essay. Make your title descriptive (Good example: Mobilization of International Support for Domestic Policy Change; Bad example: Effective Use of Nonviolence by Citizens);
- Do not include your name, school name, or other identifying information in any part of the essay;
- Properly credit the sources of information and ideas used in your essay, using a widely accepted style - the preferred citation style is MLA.
- Do not use footnotes as our online registration system does not accept them. If you have written your essay using footnotes, there is a simple way to convert them to endnotes. Please review the Microsoft tutorial on how to do the coversion.
Review the essay requirement checklist.
Ask your coordinator to register online. Your coordinator will receive a webpage link by email after s/he registers. You must use this link to access the registration site where you will enter the contest and submit your essay. This site will be active until February 1, 2012 11:59 PM EST.

Be sure to keep an electronic copy of the essay and a copy of your completed registration form.

If the student and coordinator does not have access to the internet, the student or coordinator may contact us on how to make a submission by mail. 202-429-7178