Penn State’s Annual Essay Contest for High School Juniors
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Please print clearly and double-check all information.
Last Name________________________________ First Name ____________________Initial________________
Birth Date (mm/dd/yy)______________ Social Security Number will be required if a placement winner.
School_________________________________ Current English________________________________________
Teacher (First and Last Name)
School Address_______________________________________________________________________________
(Street)
_______________________________________________________________________________
(City)
(Zip Code)
Supervising Teacher_________________________________ School Telephone Number____________________
(First and Last Name)
Instructions
Before you begin to write your essay, please fill out the top of this page. Also, print your last name in the
upper-right-hand corner of your essay.
Your essay may be composed on a computer or hand-written.
You will have 60 minutes after reading the article to plan, draft, and revise an essay on the topic printed below.
When the supervisor announces that 60 minutes have passed, you must stop writing, so use your time wisely; spend
some time thinking and preparing to write and save some time for proofreading your essay. The judges will evaluate
your essay according to how well it
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Reflects a thoughtful analysis of the question;
Establishes a strong thesis statement
Provides clear, appropriate and sufficient detailed support for the points you make;
Defines key terms where needed;
Is organized;
Conforms to the conventions of standardized American English.
In other words, your readers will be concerned with the overall quality of your work, not how much you have written.
TOPIC
In “Colorado Students Walk Out to Protest Curriculum,” LA Times staff writer Michael Muskal describes the
civil disobedience of Denver-area high school students, who are protesting what they perceive as schoolboard interference in their AP history curriculum. According to recently elected school-board member Julie
Williams, AP history should “promote more ‘positive aspects’ about the country and less discussion on ‘civil
disorder, social strife, or disregard of the law.’” Protesting students, on the other hand, argue that “students
need to learn the facts—all of them” and that “some of the greatest things in history happened because of
civil disorder and protest.” Ironically, the school board’s effort to shift the focus of the curriculum away from
pivotal, troublesome moments in U.S. history has served instead to underscore the relevance of those
historical moments for these young activists—especially those historical moments having to do with national
disagreements on such topics as race, sex, sexual identity, sexual assault, domestic violence, reproductive
rights, mental or physical dis/ability, age, socioeconomic class, minimum wage, working conditions,
immigration, human rights, climate change, and so on.
In a brief essay, outline one instance in which you have observed, read about, or joined other young people
working either to combat social injustice or to call attention to an important issue (perhaps by protesting,
boycotting, letter-writing, petitioning, canvassing, redesigning images, rewriting content, and so on). Using
“Colorado Students Walk Out” as a springboard for your own thinking, construct an argument in which you
(1) contextualize that specific incident within a larger controversy, (2) describe the activists’ specific actions,
(3) summarize the activists’ overall argument and the reasons they provided in support of the argument.
Finally (4) take a stand on the worthiness of the activists’ response to the issue by arguing for the
effectiveness—or ineffectiveness—of the activists’ overall strategy (whether it was spoken, embodied,
virtual, visual, musical, and/or social-media-based, or a combination of these).
You will be given one hour to plan out, draft, and revise your essay. As you compose your essay, pay special
attention to (a) establishing a clear thesis statement, which may arise from part 4 above; (b) developing a
point-by-point argument, supporting each point with details and examples; and (c) demonstrating your
stylistic skill.
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Jenny Deam, “Colorado students walk out to protest proposed curriculum changes,” Los Angeles Times, 24
September 2014: http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-colorado-student-protests-story.html
For the third straight day Wednesday hundreds of high school students walked out of their classrooms in suburban
Denver in an act of civil disobedience to protest proposed curriculum changes that would curtail lessons about civil
disobedience and other topics such as civil disorder.
The Jefferson County school district west of Denver has been embroiled in controversy for months following the
election last year of a slate of conservative school board members who ran on the promise to overhaul teacher pay,
emphasize charter schools and closely examine curriculum. Dustin Zvonek, the Colorado state director of Americans
for Prosperity, a conservative group affiliated with the Koch brothers, has praised the new board members for their
agenda. But the protests were ignited by the recent suggestion by Julie Williams, one of the newly elected board
members, that the teaching of advanced placement U.S. history in the district’s 17 high schools should be scrutinized
to promote more “positive aspects” about the country and less discussion on “civil disorder, social strife or disregard of
the law.” The proposal called for instruction in which “theories should be distinguished from fact. Materials should
promote citizenship, patriotism, essentials and benefits of the free-enterprise system, respect for authority and respect
for individual rights. Materials should not encourage or condone civil disorder, social strife or disregard for the law,”
according to a district report.
Even though the board tabled the curriculum proposal until an indefinite date, the uproar shows no sign of slowing.
Since Monday, when 100 students walked out at Evergreen High School, the protests have continued to gather steam,
fueled by social media. By Wednesday, there had been student walkouts at nine high schools with more planned for
the rest of the week. Katharine Turner, a 17-year-old senior at Chatfield High School, was one of hundreds who left
classes to march down a busy street, many chanting the emerging slogan, “Don’t Make History a Mystery.”
“I want to someday teach history,” Katharine said Wednesday morning. “I believe students need to learn the facts —
all of them.” Ashlyn Maher, 16, another Chatfield senior, agreed. “Some of the greatest things in history happened
because of civil disorder and protest.”
The newly named superintendent, Dan McMinimee, attempted to calm the situation in a statement to parents, pledging
to meet with student groups about the curriculum proposal. “Our students deserve to be heard and need to know that
they can have a role in shaping their education.” McMinimee’s hiring this year sparked its own controversy as he was
the only finalist for the job and is considered by many to be hand-picked by the slate of conservative board members.
McMinimee replaced longtime Supt. Cindy Stevenson, who left abruptly when she said the board refused to work with
her.
Williams’ proposal for a curriculum committee to review the history lesson plans included provisions that the panel
would provide ongoing monitoring of teaching materials and that the board could review and add topics when they saw
fit. Williams said she was shocked by the outcry. “To be accused of censorship? Seriously? That is just ridiculous,” she
said in a statement.
The advanced placement U.S. history class is an accelerated course given to high school students who are eligible to
earn college credit by passing the standardized test. The test was revised this year to emphasize careful reading and
understanding of historical documents, according to the College Board, which administers the test nationwide. School
curriculum needs to reflect the changes if students are to pass the test. Williams called the revised test and
accompanying materials introduced nationwide this fall “untested and unresearched.” She believes the course “rejects
the history that has been taught in the country for generations.”
“It has an emphasis on race, gender, class, ethnicity, grievance and American-bashing while simultaneously omitting
the most basic structural and philosophical elements considered essential to the understanding of American history for
generations,” she said.
John Ford, president of the Jefferson County teachers union and a social studies teacher at Moore Middle School, is
appalled by the suggestion. “The AP program is a nationally recognized program that was created by college
professors and experts in their field.” The College Board defended the changes in the test.
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“At the root of current objections to this highly regarded process is a blatant disregard for the facts,” the College Board
said in a statement. “Despite the principled engagement and unwavering cooperation of the College Board in
addressing concerns, the most vocal critics have prioritized their own agenda above the best interests of teachers,
students and their families.”
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