US Constitution Essay Contest
Information and Rules
http://www.teapartypatriotsedh.com/essaycontest
For Constitution Month the Tea Party Patriots of El Dorado Hills are offering an Essay Contest
that addresses a fundamental principle of the US Constitution. We have aligned our contest
with Constitution month in the schools and the local library. We have worked hand in hand
with the El Dorado Hills library and coordinated our efforts to support you in this contest. The
goal of this contest is for students to utilize the resources provided by their school and the local
library to write this essay.
Prizes
The Contest will be held at three schools, Oak Ridge High School, Marina Middle School and
Rolling Hills Middle School. Three prizes will be given away at each school, a Grand Prize,
Second Place Prize and Third Place Prize at each school. The prize money will be the same at
each school.
Grand Prize: $100
Second Place: $75
Third Place: $25
Essay Question
The Middle School Question
What is the difference between a republic and a democracy?
The High School Question
Why do you believe our Forefathers choose a republican form of government for our country
versus a democracy? Please focus your paper on the differences between the two and why our
Forefathers chose a republican versus a democracy.
Resources Available to You:
The El Dorado Hills Library will have a research day every Friday in September (after school) and
all afternoon on Saturday, September 15th will be dedicated to helping students find the
resources they need to answer the essay questions.
The El Dorado Hills Library will also have a guest speaker, Dr. Beeman of the University of
Pennsylvania. Dr. Beeman will discuss the essay question in his presentation at Oak Ridge High
School on September 24th. Please contact the library for more information on the time and
exact location at Oak Ridge.
Essay Contest Rules
1. All entries must be submitted by email to: tppedh@gmail.com (All submissions have to be an
attachment to your email.) Microsoft Word or PDF is the preferred format for submission
a. No Entries will be accepted after midnight on September 30th.
2. All Essays must be an original work. Plagiarizing even one sentence will result in the essay being
withdrawn from the contest.
a. All essays will be submitted to Turn It In.com to be checked for plagiarism after submission.
3. All work from other sources included in your essay must be properly cited. Contestants can choose
whatever recognized system of citation that they desire. But any work in the essay that is not the
contestants work must be cited or it will be considered plagiarism.
a. Please refer to Noodle Tools.com for assistance in creating citations.
4. All essays will be evaluated based on the rubrics that can be found at:
http://www.teapartypatriotsedh.com/essaycontest
Two readers will score each essay. The two scores will be averaged to assign the essay its final score.
The three essays from each school with the highest scores will receive the prizes accordingly.
5. All winners will be contacted by no later than October 12th. The prize money will be awarded shortly
after October 12th.
6. Each contestant can only submit one essay.
Format That Your Paper Must Be Submitted In:
Your School Name
Your Name
Your Grade
Your Email Address
Yes/No my name can/'t be submitted to the press if I win the contest.
Title of Essay
Your Essay
Evening Phone Number