The Contest Manual provides you with step-by-step guidelines for starting a Laws of Life Essay Contest.
   
Download and print out the Contest Manual (60 pages, 854KB)

   
These easy-to-print tips have been taken right from the Contest Manual and offer you a quick overview of how essay contests have been started in local communities around the world.
   


First Things First
Contest Management
 Contest Checklist
Getting Started
 Promoting the Contest
Working with Schools
Judging the Essays
Planning the Awards Event
Publicity
 Publishing the Essays
After the Contest
Appendix, including:

Sample Promotional Tools
Sample Judging Guidelines
Sample Press Release
Sample Awards Event Materials
Facts and Benefits Sheet
Sample Endorsements
Sample Contest Assessment Questionnaire
 Organizations that can Sponsor the Contest

   
The guide describes the benefits of the contest and offers teacher-friendly activities, a variety of useful teaching tips and suggestions, and examples of laws of life essays.
Complete Guide (31 Pages, 682K)
   
GUIDE BY SECTION:
Letter to My Fellow Teachers
About the Contest
Benefits of the Contest
Announcing the Contest
Motivating Students to Write
Teaching Tips to Help Your Students with Their Essays
A Ten-Day Sample Lesson Plan
Student Questionnaire
Sample Entry Form
Peer Editing Guide
Examples of Student Essays

   
Featuring Former First Lady Barbara Bush, the Contest Video describes the benefits of the Laws of Life Essay Contest in interviews with students, teachers, and sponsors. The video is often used as a promotional tool to raise people's interest in the program.
   
Click here to view the 9 minute video (streaming video, Real Player required)

   
The four-page brochure has been designed to promote the contest to individuals, schools, and organizations. The brochure is an effective way to communicate the benefits of the contest in a succinct and accessible format.
   
Download and print out the brochure (4 pages, 348KB)

 

When you order the free Contest Information Kit, you will receive a full set of contest materials, including:

  • Contest Manual
  • Teacher's Guide
  • Contest Brochure
  • Contest Video (VHS/DVD)
  • Contest Newsletters

To order a Kit, click here!

 
To view these essays you must have Adobe PDF Reader installed on your computer. To download this application FREE, click here.
 

The free newsletter is a great way to learn about ongoing contests and share ideas with the many sponsors, organizers, and teachers who have started a local contest.

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The Laws of Life Essay Contest is endorsed by the National School Boards Association and is on the
National Association of Secondary School Principals’ National Advisory List of Student Contests and Activities.