In its ninth year, the Au Sable River Writing Contest is the product of a love of great words and the belief that those words can convey powerful ideas and enable people to seek a better understanding of today’s challenges. Since 1987, the Anglers of the Au Sable has, through its nationally recognized quarterly publication, The Riverwatch, educated thousands on the value of preserving the fragile and beautiful Au Sable River Watershed for people today and generations to come. We hope that initiatives like this Writing Contest will help make young citizens of the greater Au Sable watershed more aware of the beautiful environs just beyond their backyards.
The
contest is open to tenth, eleventh and twelfth graders from Grayling, Oscoda
and Mio-Au Sable High Schools. The topic must be based on the theme “Au
Sable River Words.” Three writing categories are judged: Fiction, Non-Fiction,
and Poetry. The Contest’s theme is intentionally broad, designed to encourage
entrants to be creative. When writing, we advise contestants to consider as
their audience people who not only love the beauty of the Au Sable River and
its neighboring areas, but what these treasures symbolize. For fiction and poetry
entries, any story or prose that pertains to the Au Sable, conservation, adventure,
personal relationships, encounters, conservation reflections, personal values
and life experiences is suitable. For non-fiction, real life experiences, natural
encounters, studies (scientific, economic or otherwise), reports on projects,
and even personal opinions are all worthy subjects. We emphasize to the contestants
that writing is to entertain, inform and cause people to consider new ideas
and new ways of solving problems. Further, we tell them: have fun writing but
make the end product interesting to your readers!
In addition to recognition and awards, winning entries in each category will be published in future issues of The Riverwatch.
At left: a facsimile of the the 2001 brochure (cover only) that is sent to each of the four high schools participating in the contest.
The 2002 Contest begins February 1 and ends March 31, 2002. To participate in
the Contest writers must be students who are in the tenth, eleventh or twelfth
grade during the Contest. Only students from Grayling, Mio-AuSable, Roscommon,
and Oscoda High Schools are eligible.
Entries must be either a work of fiction, a work of non-fiction, or a work of poetry. The topic must be based on the theme “Au Sable River Words.” The entry must be the student's own work and may be up to 2,000 words for fiction and nonfiction, and up to 500 words for poetry. Entries previously published are eligible. The entry must be typed in a font no smaller than 12 points (i.e. 12 pt. Times-Roman or 12 pt. Arial). The Anglers of the Au Sable cannot return entries. IMPORTANT: The student's name, address, and school must appear at the top of each page. The parental permission card (see right) must be filled out and stapled to the back of the essay.
A maximum of 10 entries per category
from each school (up to a total of thirty) will be accepted for judging. A designated
teacher from your school will determine which entries will be chosen for final
judging. All entries sent to the Anglers of the Au Sable must be submitted by
the school, not by individual contestants, and must be postmarked no later than
March 31, 2002. NOTE TO SCHOOL REPRESENTATIVE: Send your school’s
submissions to: Au Sable River Words Writing Contest, c/o Tess Nelkie, 406 South
12th Avenue, Tawas City, MI 48763. (All school entries from one school must
be sent in one parcel.)
First, second and third place winners will be chosen
from each submission category (fiction, non-fiction, and poetry) at each participating
high school, for a total of nine winners. The three winners in each category
will receive an Honor Certificate. First place winners in each category will
have their name engraved on a plaque to be displayed at each school.
First and second place winners from each category advance to inter-school judging. One overall winner and one runner-up from each category will be chosen. Each overall winner will be awarded a $200 U.S. Savings Bond. The three runners-up will each be awarded a $150 U.S. Savings Bond. These awards will be presented at each school’s awards ceremony.
A panel of seven impartial judges who are members of the Anglers of the Au Sable will review and score entries. They are:
NOTE: Submissions by relatives of judges will disqualify those judges from reviewing/scoring those entries.
To read last year's winning entries, see The Riverwatch (Number
36).
Please contact Tess Nelkie at tnelkie@yahoo.com.
© Copyright 2002, Anglers of the Au Sable, Inc. All rights reserved. Last modified July 15, 2007 .