Union’s 2016 Writing Contest Offers Cash Prizes to High School Students
The 2016 writing contest for high school students is now underway! One of the most eagerly anticipated events on the Union’s annual calendar, the writing contest gives members’ children who are high school students an excellent opportunity to show their skills and win prize money at the same time. Quite a few previous writing contest winners said they enjoyed the challenge that the contest presents to them. We hope this year’s crop of students feels the same way.
The 2016 writing contest is open to all children and eligible dependents of Hotel Trades Council and Local 6 members. Students must be in grades 10, 11 or 12 at the time of entering the competition. Cash prizes will be awarded to three winners—first, second and third place—in each of the contest’s three categories, and honorable mention cash prizes may also be awarded. Some of the winning entries—or excerpts from them—may be published in Hotel Voice and on the Laborarts.org website.
Like its predecessors, this year’s contest promises to bring in some fine poems, essays and narratives. Rules and entry procedures for the 2016 contest appear in this edition of Hotel Voice. Students will also find some suggested topics to consider.
The annual writing contest is now 14 years old. It was started in 2003 as a one-time special event to see how members’ children would respond to an invitation to submit samples of their writing to compete for cash prizes. The response that year was overwhelming and, as a result, the writing competition is now an annual event, one that repeatedly demonstrates the great amount of talent and creativity that exists in our Union’s family. Each year, the outstanding quality of the entries makes everyone associated with the contest very proud. We expect that this year will be no different.
The 2016 competition will offer cash prizes— $2,000 for first place, $1,000 for second and $300 for third—in these three categories: Essay, Poetry and Fiction/non-fiction Narrative. One of the category winners will be selected as best overall entry and will receive an additional $1,000—for a total top prize of $3,000.
Since the competition began 14 years ago, the prize money has been provided by the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation. An impartial committee of judges will determine the winners.
As many members know from the previous contests, Donald Rubin is the son of Jay Rubin, the first President of the Hotel Trades Council. The Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation supports the writing contest with goals of promoting creativity among the children of members of our Union and reinforcing and expanding its essential mission to fund innovative efforts to empower individuals to develop their full potential. Since its inception, the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation has supported efforts to make society more responsive to progressive ideas and to promote activities of grass roots organizations including unions. The Union’s writing contest is part of the Foundation’s effort to accomplish these goals.
Previous writing contests have revealed that the goals of the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation are clearly being achieved. The contest’s judges—and Hotel Voice readers, too—have been very impressed by the talent, intelligence and creativity displayed by students who submitted entries in the previous contests.
Students in grades 10-12 who are children of Hotel Trades Council or Local 6 members may submit entries in one, two or all three categories in the competition, but no more than one entry in each category. Also, each category must have submissions from a minimum of ten students in order for the prize money to be awarded.
“Each year this contest validates the fact that our members’ children are intelligent, thoughtful and creative,” Hotel Trades Council President Peter Ward said this week. “We express our sincere appreciation to Donald Rubin and the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation for funding this competition each year and we urge parents to tell their children about it.”
“My wife and I are very pleased to continue sponsoring this competition through the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation,” said Donald Rubin, the son of Jay Rubin, who served as Hotel Trades Council President from 1938 to 1978. “We strongly believe in the union movement and its members. In addition, we hope that this competition serves as a good way to remember my father’s own dedication to organized labor and his decades of service to the Hotel Trades Council and Local 6.”
It is easy for students to enter the contest. An explanation of the contest’s categories and entry procedures is printed in this edition of Hotel Voice. As a reminder some of the essays, poems and narratives—or excerpts from them—may be published in Hotel Voice and at the Laborarts.org website. We wish the best of luck to all students who enter the writing competition and we remind all that the deadline for submitting entries to the contest is earlier than in previous years. The deadline for entries to this year’s writing contest is Friday, July 1, 2016. We’re sorry, but to give the judges ample time to determine the winners no entries can be accepted after that date.
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2016 Writing Contest
Rules and Entry Procedures
2016 WRITING CONTEST FORM - DOWNLOAD PDF
The 2016 writing contest is open to all children and eligible dependents of Hotel Trades Council and/or Local 6 members. Prizes of $2,000 for first place, $1,000 for second place and $300 for third place will be awarded in each of the three categories detailed below. One of the category winners will be selected as best overall entry and will receive an additional $1,000 for a total grand prize of $3,000. Entrants must be high school students who are in grades 10, 11 or 12 at the time of entering the contest. All entries must be accompanied by the form published below and must be submitted by Friday, July 1, 2016. Entries may not be handwritten. Entries must be mailed to the following address:
Writing Contest
c/o Hotel Voice
709 Eighth Avenue
New York, NY 10036
Entries will be judged by an impartial panel of educators and/or journalists. Representatives of the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, the Hotel Trades Council and Local 6 will have no say in the determination of winners. Entries will be judged according to originality, content and style. Students may enter one, two or all three categories, BUT MAY ONLY SUBMIT ONE ENTRY PER CATEGORY. If more than one entry is submitted by the same student in one particular category all of that student’s entries in that category will be disqualified. In addition, students who submit entries in more than one category must make sure that each entry is accompanied by a copy of the form that appears below. Students are reminded that no handwritten entries will be accepted. Students are also reminded to carefully follow the instructions for each category.
THE CATEGORIES:
Poetry. Poetry submissions may be based on any social theme of the student’s choice and should not exceed two pages in length. There are many examples of social themes, such as poverty, human rights, political change, immigration, global warming and labor organizing. Students are free to choose any of these topics, or they may choose one of their own—as long as it is a social theme.
Essay. Essays should be three to five pages (double spaced) in length and MUST be written about one of the following topics:
1. Why My Parents’ Union Membership Is Important to Me.
2. A Modern Day Hero.
3. My Choice for U.S. President in 2016.
4. The Supreme Court: Judicial or Political?
5. Public Safety vs. the Second Amendment.
6. Global Warming: Fact or Fiction
Fiction/Non-fiction Narrative. Entries in this category MUST be identified as fiction or non-fiction. Submissions must be a narrative, three to five pages (double spaced) in length, and can be told in either the first or third person. Entries may cover any topic of the student’s choosing. The following are some suggested ideas behind potential narratives. These are only suggested ideas. They do not have to be the subject of the fiction/non-fiction narrative.
Why Unions Matter.
How I Plan to Change the World.
What I Know Now that I Didn’t Know a Year Ago.
My Personal Experience with Immigration.
