“Why I’m Thankful for My Teacher” Essay Contest
Who can participate: All Tennessee public school students in grades kindergarten through twelve (the
complexity of the essay will vary by age; K-3 students should record their thoughts on video).
What to write: Students should write an essay sharing how a teacher has impacted their life and why
the student is thankful for them (please make sure you are celebrating a current Tennessee teacher).
Submissions should be no longer than 500 words. Both typed and hand-written submissions will be
accepted. Videos by K-3 students should be under 90 seconds. Take a moment to view last year’s
winning essays for inspiration.
Contest categories: One winner will be selected from each of the following grade bands: K-3, 4-8, and 912.
Student Prize: The students who author the winning essays will receive a prize to be announced soon.
The winning items will also be posted on the Tennessee Department of Education’s blog, Classroom
Chronicles.
Teacher Prize: The teacher who is the subject of the winning student essay will be celebrated publicly.
How to submit: Entries may either be submitted online at https://tnedu.wufoo.com/forms/why-imthankful-for-my-teacher/ using our submission form, or you may mail your essay along with a completed
copy of the submission form to:
Ashley M. Ball, Tennessee Department of Education
710 James Robertson Parkway
Andrew Johnson Tower, 9th Floor
Nashville, TN 37243
How to submit a video for K-3 students: Please email the video file and a completed copy of the
submission form to Educator.Communications@tn.gov. A completed submission form must accompany
your submission.
Deadline: All submissions must be submitted online, emailed or, if mailed in, be present in the
Tennessee Department of Education office by 5 p.m. CDT on Friday, April 3.
If you have any questions about the contest, please email Educator.Communications@tn.gov.
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Application for “Why I’m Thankful for My Teacher” Essay Contest
For Tennessee public school students in grades K-12:
Thank you for submitting your reflection on why you are thankful for your teacher. One winner will be
selected from each of the following grade bands: K-3, 5-8, and 9-12. Please complete the form below to
submit your essay, or video for students in grades K-3.
Submissions may be submitted online at https://tnedu.wufoo.com/forms/why-im-thankful-for-myteacher/, or mailed to: Ashley M. Ball, Tennessee Department of Education, 710 James Robertson
Parkway, Andrew Johnson Tower, 9th Floor, Nashville, TN 37243. K-3 students may email their video,
along with a completed copy of this form, to Educator.Communications@tn.gov.
All submissions must be present in the Tennessee Department of Education office by 5 p.m. CDT on
Friday, April 3.
Student Information
Student Name: ____________________________________________________________
Grade: ___________________________________________________________________
School: _____________________________________________________________________
County: _____________________________________________________________________
Teacher Information (for the teacher you wrote about in your essay)
Teacher Name: _______________________________________________________________
Teacher’s subject or class: _______________________________________________________
Parent/Guardian Information
Parent/Guardian Name: ______________________________________________________
Phone: ______________________________
Email: _____________________________
Please note: The Tennessee Department of Education will seek the guardian’s permission before
publishing a child's image, name, and/or selected school materials (projects, papers, art work) in
publications and on the department of education web site.