First Annual Catholic Schoolhouse Essay Winners!

Our First annual Catholic Schoolhouse Essay contest came to completion a few short weeks ago!  Chapter students from around the entire US participated in this contest and so many wonderful essays were submitted. The judges were blown away by the quality of our scholars’ essays and had a difficult time reaching a decision! There were many beautiful pieces of writing and so much creativity from the submissions!

While the original plan was to just pick 1st place winners in each category: Grammar, Dialectic, and Rhetoric, there were so many outstanding ones we had to honor those who we felt were a close second, third, and honorable mentions.  Our 1st place winners received a gift certificate, and the honor of their essays in the blog! All participants in the contest received a bookmark that was designed by Rachel Kemer which reads “Your word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path” Psalm 119:115

Our writing guidelines and prompts this year were as follows.

Upper Grammar:  Imagine you lived during the Civil War.  Write a diary entry that tells what your life was like as a child at that time.  What kind of food did you eat? Where did you live? What kind of games did you play?  How did the war impact your life? (100-300 words)

Dialectic:  Write about your favorite Civil War Era figure in history like Clara Barton or Abraham Lincoln.  What kind of virtue did they display? How did their virtue impact their contribution to history.  What impact did they have on the War and American History? (300-500 words)

Rhetoric:  Write about a Civil War Era leader like Abraham Lincoln or Robert E. Lee.  How did their faith influence their life and decisions? How did they impact the War and American History?  (500-700 words)

All essays should:

•       Include a title page with essay title, student’s name, category (upper grammar, dialectic, rhetoric), chapter name, and student’s contact email address
•       be double spaced
•       have 1 inch margins
•       include page numbers
•       be typed in 12 point Times New Roman, Arial or similar font
•       be in Microsoft Word, Google Docs or a compatible format

Without further ado, here are the results of our First Annual Catholic Schoolhouse Essay Contest!

The Winning Essays:

Here are our winning essays by Claire, Julia, and Nicholas.  Take a minute to read the essays and leave their authors an encouraging note in the comments section below! All of us at Catholic Schoolhouse are all so proud of them!

Clare’s “Civil War Diary Entry: A Morning for Mourning”

Julia’s “Life of Harriet Tubman”

Please congratulate all entrants on a job well done as everyone submitted their best efforts! We can’t wait to read your essays next year!