Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett announced the theme and submission date for his office’s 2024 Civics Essay Contest for students in kindergarten to 12th grade on Friday.
This year’s essay theme is “Why Trusted Sources Matter,” according to Hargett’s office.
There are different essay prompts and word limit requirements tailored for four grade bands – kindergarten-2nd grade, 3rd grade-5th grade, 6th-8th grade, and 9th-12th grade.
Essays must be typed, double-spaced, and submitted on 8 ½” x 11” paper.
All public, private school, and home school association students are encouraged to participate in the contest.
First-place winners in each grade band will receive a $500 TNStars 529 College Savings Program scholarship. Second-place winners will receive a $250 scholarship and third-place winners will receive a $100 scholarship.
In addition, all contest winners will also receive a trip to the State Capitol in Nashville.
For students in kindergarten through 2nd grade, submissions must be 50-100 words accompanied with a drawing not exceeding 11″x17″ in size that completes the following prompt:
Draw a picture of yourself as a detective and write a few sentences about how you can tell the difference between a fact and an opinion.
Submissions for students in 3rd-5th grades must be between 250-500 words and answer the following prompt:
Imagine a candidate is running for class president at your school or that someone in your community is running for office. Where could you find trusted sources of information about them? Consider sources like news articles, interviews, websites, or well-known organizations. Write about 3 different places you would look for accurate information about the candidate or issue and why you trust each source.
Submissions for students in 6th-8th grades must be between 300-700 words and address the following prompt:
Social media can be a helpful tool, but it’s important to know how to find and share information that others can trust. Think about how you use social media to learn about what’s going on around you. Write about how you can find information you know is accurate: Which types of accounts, organizations, or sources do you trust most, and how can you tell if they are trustworthy?
High school students in 9th-12th grades must submit essays with a word limit of 500-1,000 words that address the following prompt:
Social media has become a major news source for many Americans when they are developing their political ideas. For this essay, describe how one can find reliable sources on social media and why this is important in our system of democracy? How could one build up a reputation as a reputable source of information online? How do we create a more informed society?
Hargett said this year’s essay theme “hopes to have students consider their sources of information, so they can grow to make informed decisions and encourage others to do the same.”
Students who are interested in participating in the secretary of state office’s essay contest can view the rules online at sos.tn.gov/civics-essay-contest.
Schools are able to choose up to two essays from each grade band to submit for the contest.
The deadline for all submissions is Friday, January 31.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
