Asian American Advancing Justice Untold Civil Rights Stories Essay Contest Program Description and Official Rules

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1 Asian American Advancing Justice Untold Civil Rights Stories Essay Contest Program Description and Official Rules I. Introduction The purpose of Asian American Advancing Justice Untold Civil Rights Stories Essay Contest (the Contest ) is to encourage students to learn about Asian American heroes and movements, and how these civil rights struggles may be relevant today or in their own lives. Teachers will use one of the lessons from Untold Civil Rights Stories: Asian Americans Speak Out for Justice ( Untold Stories ) or create their own lesson using at least one story from Untold Stories in their classroom, using the culminating essay as the entry for the Contest. Winners of the essay contest will receive scholarship awards. Teachers will receive appreciation rewards for entering their students essays for the Contest. This Contest is an initiative of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Los Angeles ( Advancing Justice ) in collaboration with the City of Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Islander American Heritage Month ( APIAHM ). II. Student Scholarship Awards and Teacher Appreciation Rewards Student Scholarship Awards: $300 - First Place. Multiple winners $200 - Second Place. Multiple winners $100 - Third Place. Multiple winners $50 - Best Effort. Multiple winners Winners will be notified through their teachers. Teacher Appreciation Rewards: The first one hundred registered participating teachers who successfully complete the student essay submission process will receive $200 reward for their participation. III. Important Dates, Deadlines 4/1/16 Friday, last day for teachers to register for participation 5/1/16 Sunday, last day for teachers to submit their students essays, cover sheets and survey. 5/16/16 Monday, winners will be announced. 5/21/16 Saturday, LA APIAHM Closing Ceremony. Scholarship Award presentation to winners. Teacher Appreciation Reward presentation to participating teachers. Recipients need not be present. IV. Steps for Teachers 1. By 4/1/16 register at AdvancingJustice-LA.org/EssayContest. Click on Teacher Registration. Teachers must register to participate. Only the first one hundred registered teachers are qualified as participating teachers who will receive an confirmation from Advancing Justice. The registration link will be disabled once the number of registering teachers reaches one hundred. 1

2 2. Participating teachers a) Teach one of the units or one of the lessons in Untold Stories in their classroom. Have their students write the culminating essay from the lesson OR b) Create their own lesson using at least one story from Untold Stories. Teach the lesson in their classroom. Have their student write how the story connects to their personal life or to a current event. 3. Participating teachers use the Essay Rubric in Section VII to grade the essays. 4. Participating teachers pick the two essays with the highest scores and one or two best-effort essays as essay entries to enter the Contest. 5. By 5/1/16 participating teachers must submit the following as attachments in an to Pat Kwoh at pkwoh@advancingjustice-la.org in order to be eligible for the teacher rewards and for their students to be eligible for the scholarship awards. On the subject line specify Untold Stories Essay Contest Submission. a) Digital copies of the essay entries b) Student Essay Cover Sheet (Section VIII), one for each essay entry. c) Teacher Cover Sheet (Section IX), one for each class. d) Teacher Post Essay Survey (Section X), one for each teacher. If the essay is handwritten, scan it and submit. Make sure digital copies are legible. Advancing Justice will use the information on the cover sheets to contact the winners and teachers, and for mailing the reward and award checks. 6. By 5/16/16 Advancing Justice will notify the participating teachers of the winners. Advancing Justice will notify teachers of the logistics of the award ceremony. V. Official Contest Rules A. Qualifications for Contestants, Student Scholarship Awards and Teacher Appreciation Rewards 1. Student contestants must be between grade 6 and 12 to participate. 2. Teachers submitting essays must register at AdvancingJustice-LA.org/EssayContest. 3. Only the first one hundred registered teachers are qualified as participating teachers who will receive an confirmation from Advancing Justice. The registration link will be disabled once the number of registering teachers reaches one hundred. 4. Although there is no specific prompt, essays submitted must be based off a topic from Untold Stories. Participating teachers must use a lesson in Untold Stories or create their own lesson using at least one story in Untold Stories in a classroom. 5. Students write their culminating essays. 6. Participating teachers submit the top 2 essays and 1 or 2 best-effort essays from their class for entry to this Contest using the Essay Rubric in Section VII. Teachers may submit essays from more than one class. 7. A best-effort essay is an essay written by a student who has to overcome tremendous obstacles to write a good essay to his/her best ability. 8. Participating teachers must attach a completed Teacher Post Contest Survey (Section X) and cover sheets (Section VIII and IX) when submitting student essays in order to receive the reward, and for winning students to receive scholarship awards. 9. Contestant essay must be submitted by a participating teacher. 10. Essays submitted after May 1, 2016 will not be considered for prizes. B. Essay Rules 1. All essays must be students original work. 2. Essays should not be more than 500 words and must be legible. 3. Essays must be written in English. 4. Essays must include completed teacher and student cover sheets. (See Section IX, VIII) C. Judging 1. Judging will be completed by: a) Stewart Kwoh is the founding President and Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles. Kwoh earned his bachelor s degree from University of California, Los 2

3 Angeles and his J.D. from the UCLA School of Law. He teaches at the university s Asian American Studies Department, and has been an instructor at UCLA School of Law. He is a past expert in residence at UC Berkeley School of Law, and has two honorary doctorates from Williams College and Suffolk School of Law. He was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow in 1998, becoming the first Asian American attorney and human rights activist to receive this highly prestigious recognition, often referred to as the genius grant. b) Russell C. Leong, M.F.A., is an award winning poet and short story writer whose works have been translated into Chinese and read/performed in Hong Kong, Beijing, Kaoshiung, Hong Kong, Taipei, Los Angeles, Nanjing, San Francisco, and New York. Leong has taught English, poetry and Asian American Studies at UCLA, the University of Hong Kong, and Hunter College (NY). The editor of UCLA's Amerasia Journal for 33 years, he edited the first books and journals on Asian Pacific media and film, sexualities, on Asian Americans post 9/11, and on transcultural literary studies. He is the founding and current editor of CUNY FORUM, for The City University of New York's Asian American and Asian Research Institute. His latest creative work, had its debut in New York City's Bowery Poetry Club and at the University of Hong Kong's Black Box Theatre. 2. All decisions made by the judges regarding the winners are final. D. Scoring of the Contest 1. Essays will be scored by points between according to their grade level and the Essay Rubric in Section VII. 2. Essays will be judged by thesis or ideas, organization, style and MUGS (Mechanics, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling). E. The Asian American Advancing Justice Untold Civil Rights Stories Essay Contest is subject to change. F. Consent a) All submitted essays will become the property of Advancing Justice. b) Essay contest participants, teachers and students agree to allow Advancing Justice to use their names and essays for promotional and publicity purposes, including on the Advancing Justice website and UntoldStories lesson plans. c) By submitting, both student and teacher are agreeing to all contest rules. VI. Information: For contest rules click on Contest Rules in AdvancingJustice-LA.org/EssayContest For teacher registration click on Teacher Registration in AdvancingJustice-LA.org/EssayContest For deadlines click on Deadlines For inquiries click on Inquiries in AdvancingJustice-LA.org/EssayContest For Untold Civil Rights Stories: Asian Americans Speak Out for Justice and lesson plans click this link: AdvancingJustice-LA.org/UntoldStories. VII. Essay Rubric Points Total Points Up to 100 Thesis or ideas Organization Style Thesis clarity or idea creativity. Body paragraphs relate to the thesis or the ideas. Supportive textual details Introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion, topic sentences, transition sentences Sentence structure, length, sentence starters, use of academic language Mechanics/ Usage/ Grammar/ Spelling Typed according to MLA Typing Guidelines, or legibly written. Spelling, grammar Up to 30 Up to 30 Up to 25 Up to 15 3

4 VIII. Student Essay Cover Sheet. Submit one for each student essay entry. Date School District School School Address Teacher s First Name Teacher s Last Name Class Subject Grade Level Student s First Name Student s Last Name The Untold Story(ies) used for the essay Asian Americans Advancing Justice Los Angeles will use the following information to contact you if you are a winner: Student s address Student s phone number Student s mailing address 4

5 IX. Teacher Cover Sheet. Submit one for each class. Date School District School School Address Teacher s First Name Teacher s Last Name Class Subject Grade Level The Untold Story(ies) used for the essay Untold Story curricular used for the essay (if applicable) Asian Americans Advancing Justice Los Angeles will use the following information to contact you concerning the Contest: Teacher s address Teacher s phone number Teacher s mailing address for reward check to be mailed 5

6 X. Teacher Post Contest Survey Date School District School School Address Teacher s First Name Last Name The classes I teach: Subject Grade Subject Grade Subject Grade Untold Stories Curriculum I am considering to use in the future. Check all apply: English Grade 6 Topic: Middle School Essay Writing English Grade 9, 10 Topic: WWII, Japanese American Internment, Post 9/11 English Grade Topic: Hate Crimes, Microaggressions Ethnic Studies Grade 9-11 Topic: Philip Vera Cruz and Justice for Farmworkers U.S. History Grade 9-11 Topic: Philip Vera Cruz and Justice for Farmworkers U.S. History Grade 11 Topic: WWII, Japanese American Internment Biology Grade 7-11 Life Science, Inter-Coordinated Science Topic: Ecology Environment Sustainability, Philip Vera Cruz Math Grade 9-12 Algebra 1, Statistics Strand in Common Core Topic: Hate Crime Analysis, Post 9/11 Stories I would consider using in my class(es) in the future. Check all apply: Freeing Ourselves From Prison Sweatshops: Thai Garment Workers Speak Out United Farm Workers (UFW) Movement: Philip Vera Cruz, Unsung Hero Vincent Chin/Lily Chin: The Courage to Speak Out A Family Educates to Prevent Hate Crimes: The Case of Joseph Ileto Breaking the Color Line in Hollywood: Beulah Ong Kwoh, Actor Building Bridges between Races: Kyung Won Lee, Investigative Journalist One Man Seeks Justice from a Nation: Korematsu v. United States American Veteran in Exile: Manong: Faustino Peping Baclig Who Took the Rap? A Call to Action 6

7 Defending the Unpopular Immigrant A Citizen Fights for His Civil Rights after 9/11: Amric Singh Rathour Student to Student: The Rose That Grew From Concrete I would like to receive future announcements on Untold Stories, lesson plans and events. I would like to write curriculum for Untold Stories. Please contact me. Suggestions, comments on the Essay Contest Suggestions, comments on Untold Stories curricular Suggestions, comments on the stories in Untold Stories Suggestions, comments on Untold Stories website 7

8 Additional suggestions, comments 8