Join the Union’s 2024 Writing Contest!
Calling all budding writers and journalists!
The Union is proud to announce the 22nd Annual Writing Contest. Entries can be submitted by children and eligible dependents of the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council and/or Local 6 members, who are high school students entering the 10th, 11th or 12th grades. All entries must be submitted by Tuesday, September 3, 2024 at 11:59PM.
This year’s contest will offer cash prizes between $1,000 and $1,500 for first place, second place, and third place in the Essay category, and in the Fiction/Non-Fiction Narrative category. A $3,000 cash prize will be awarded to the winner of the best overall entry in either category. As in past years, the money for this year’s contest is being generously donated by Laurel Rubin, the daughter of Donald Rubin and granddaughter of Jay Rubin, the first president of our Union.
All entries for the Essay category must be 3 to 5 pages in length, double-spaced, and must be written about one of the following topics:
- Why My Parent’s Union Membership is Important to Me
- A Modern-Day Hero
- The Supreme Court: Judicial or Political?
- Dear Immigrant, Welcome to America!
- Red States, Blue States...UNITED States?
- Global Warming: How Will it Affect Your Community?
All entries in the category of Fiction/Non-Fiction Narrative must be identified as either fiction or non-fiction, and must be between 3 to 5 pages in length, double-spaced, and can be told in either the first or third person. Entries may cover any topic of the student’s choosing. In the past, the following ideas have been suggested as topics in the Narrative category – these do not have to be the subject of the fiction or non-fiction narrative:
- Living in a Union Household
- My Personal Experience with Immigration
- What I Know Now that I Did Not Know a Year Ago
- How I Plan to Change the World
RULES OF THE CONTEST FOR CHILDREN AND ELIGIBLE DEPENDENTS OF HTC AND / OR LOCAL 6 MEMBERS:
- Applicants must be high school students entering the 10th, 11th or 12th grades in the Fall of 2024.
- All entries must be submitted by email on or before Tuesday, September 3, 2024 at 11:59PM to: [email protected]
- Entries must be attached to the email in Word format, or through another word processing program. Essays should NOT be handwritten or typed out in the body of the email.
- By entering the writing contest, students agree that winning entries, or excerpts from those entries, may be published in the Hotel Voice, on the Union’s website, and on the Labor Arts website (www.laborarts.org).
- All entries must be accompanied by the following information: Student’s Name, Home Address, Home Phone Number, Mobile Phone Number, Email Address, High School, Rising Grade Level (10th, 11th or 12th grades only!), Parent or Guardian’s Name and Place of Employment.
NOTE: All entries will be judged by an impartial panel of journalists and educators who will focus on the writers’ originality, content and style. Students may submit entries in either category or both categories, but may only submit one entry per category. Students who submit entries in both categories must be sure that each entry is accompanied by the mandatory information listed in the last bullet point above.
