Kentucky Teacher

Students between the ages of 13 and 21 who sing well and are members of 4-H or FFA are invited to submit videos of themselves singing the Star-Spangled Banner.

Videos will be posted online for popular voting to determine four finalists. The four finalists will be interviewed, and their performances will be recorded for airing on national TV. Online voting will determine the grand prize winner.

Videos must be received by June 15. For more details, visit www.fmccrop.com/grower/Anthem-Singing-Contest.aspx.

The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education, in partnership with NanoRacks, LLC, announces Mission 3 to the International Space Station. This opportunity gives students across a community the ability to design real experiments to fly in low earth orbit on the Space Station. The program is open to students in grades 5-14.

Each participating community will be provided with a real microgravity research mini-laboratory and all launch services to get it to the International Space Station and safely returned to earth.

An experiment design competition this fall in each community (Sept. 17 – Nov. 9) will allow student teams to design and write proposals for real experiments vying for their community’s reserved experiment slot on the Space Station. Flight experiments will be selected by Dec. 7. Additional programming leverages the experiment design competition to engage the community, embracing a learning community model for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.

The flight of the payload to Space Station is expected in early April 2013, and a return to earth in mid-May 2013, so that the entire Mission 3 program is contained in the 2012-13 academic year.

For more information, click here.

Each year the Kentucky Council of Teachers of English/Language Arts conducts a statewide writing contest to recognize young writers in elementary school, middle school, high school and college. Teachers may submit student writing to the contest.

Students’ writing can be submitted in several categories. Winners will receive a certificate and recognition at next year’s KCTE/LA conference. They also will have their writing published in the Kentucky English Bulletin. Details can be found by visiting http://www.kcte.org/and clicking on the Annual Writing Contest link.

The deadline for entries is May 7.

As a part of their efforts to involve Kentucky students in the annual Derby festivities, Gov. Steve Beshear and First Lady Jane Beshear have announced a design contest for Kentucky middle and high school students.

Sponsored by the Kentucky Department of Education, this year’s contest helps incorporate the arts through advanced technology. Students are asked to digitally design a jockey silk image to be displayed and promoted on 2012 Derby websites. Once the designs are submitted, they will be displayed on the Governor’s Derby Celebration Facebook page at www.facebook.com/2012GDC?filter=1.

Winners will receive a commemorative 2012 Governor’s Derby Poster and have their winning design tweeted by Gov. Beshear. Projects may be submitted by an individual student, a class, a team of students or school clubs or organizations. Each design must include the students’ names, school, school district and a description of the project design. The deadline to submit entries is May 1.

Jockeys traditionally wear colorful jackets, called jockey silks or racing colors. Each racehorse’s owner has a unique pattern for silks and during the races, and many attendees identify their selected horse by looking for specific colors and silks worn by the jockey. Students are encouraged to consider the silk’s color, pattern, fabric, crest, shape and fastening for their design creations. Each submitted project must include a description of how and why the design was chosen and what the various designs’ colors and shapes represent.

Project design entries must to be submitted to Donna Melton by Tuesday, May 1 to qualify to win the contest.

Earlier this month, Gov. and Mrs. Beshear announced that the 76^th annual Governor’s Derby Celebration will be held in historic downtown Frankfort for the second year in a row. This year’s celebration will be held on Kentucky Derby Day, Saturday, May 5 from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. ET and is free and open to the public. For more information on the celebration, go to http://governor.ky.gov/derbycelebration/.

The Kentucky Council of Teachers of English/Language Arts (KCTE/LA) is accepting entries for its 2012 writing contest.

The contest is designed to recognize the exceptional writing of Kentucky students. All current KCTE/LA members may send student work into the competition.

The deadline for submissions is May 7. Click http://contest.kcte.org/student.html for more information or contact Deborah Bell at (270) 809-4725.

The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet (EEC) has kicked off its second-annual “Capture the Earth” middle school digital photography contest for all Kentucky students in grades 6-8.

This year’s competition centers on the state’s 2012 Earth Day theme of “Celebrating Kentucky’s Forests,” in recognition of the 100^th anniversary of the Kentucky Division of Forestry.

The “Capture the Earth” photo contest is open to all Kentucky middle school students. Judges will look for originality and creativity, photo composition, and how well the photo represents the Earth Day theme of “Celebrating Kentucky’s Forests.”

Students should include a brief paragraph explaining the photo and how it represents Kentucky’s Earth Day theme of “Celebrating Kentucky’s Forests.” 

Energy and Environment Cabinet Secretary Len Peters asked students to be creative and to keep in mind that forestry is more than just trees.

“Kentuckians benefit from forests in numerous ways: forests provide clean air and water, and jobs making products from our timber resources and in caring for our forests to ensure their health and sustainability,” Peters said. “Students need to keep in mind that cities have ‘urban forests’ that provide a canopy for our city streets and downtown businesses. So there are many possibilities for taking creative photographs that show the story of Kentucky’s forests. Students in every area of Kentucky can participate.” Continue Reading

McGraw-Hill Education has launched the STEM Innovative Educator Awards to recognize and reward teachers who are finding innovative ways to reach today’s students.

The awards, known as the STEMIEs, will acknowledge teachers who are pioneering effective techniques to engage their students in science, technology, engineering or mathematics.

Teachers can enter by submitting a two-minute video, a short essay and a lesson plan that demonstrates an innovative lesson or other project from their classroom. First place will receive $15,000, second place gets $5,000, and third place wins $2,500, plus McGraw-Hill will grant an additional $2,500 in other awards. In addition to the judging panel, members of the general public will have the opportunity to vote online for their favorite video. Applications will be accepted through May 31.

For more information about the STEMIEs, go to www.mheonline.com/stemie.

KET invites kids in kindergarten through fifth grade to submit their original illustrated stories to its annual Young Writers Contest.

Click here to read stories chosen as winners in last year’s contest.

KET will select winners at each grade level and award prizes. The first-place stories in each grade level will be published on KET’s website.

Submissions will be accepted through April 15. Click here for more details, including all official rules and the entry form.

The Junior Duck Stamp Design Contest is the culmination of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s Junior Duck Stamp educational program.

After studying waterfowl anatomy and habitat, students may demonstrate their knowledge by drawing, painting or sketching a picture of an eligible North American waterfowl species.

K-12 students attending public, private or home schools are eligible to enter. Students from around the U.S. submit drawings to their state, territory or district competitions. Winners from these competitions, called the “Best of Show,” are then submitted to the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Design Contest. One image from the 53 Best of Show entries will become the next Junior Duck Stamp. Entries for this year’s competition are due March 15.

Junior Duck Stamps are sold for $5 each by the U.S. Postal Service, Amplex Corporation and various National Wildlife Refuges. Proceeds from the sale of Junior Duck Stamps are returned to states for environmental and conservation education programs.

For rules and more information, go to www.fws.gov/juniorduck/ArtContest.htm.

The Secretary of State’s office has narrowed the field of slogan entries to 20 finalists in the Office of the Secretary of State Voter Slogan and Essay Contest.

The general public can now vote for a favorite.

Slogans are judged on how well they attract attention and express the importance of participating in elections. Go to http://www.sos.ky.gov/sloganpoll to vote. The poll will remain open through 2 p.m. on Feb. 28.

Kentucky 6th-8th graders were eligible to enter the slogan contest, and the essay contest was open to student in grades 9-12. Prizes of up to a $1,000 U.S. savings bond in the slogan contest and four $3,000 U.S. savings bonds in the essay contest will be awarded. The monetary awards are made possible by contest sponsors Houchens Industries, KEA Retired, Turner Construction, the University of Kentucky Scripps Howard First Amendment Center and U.S. Bank.

For more information about the contest, or to find out how your school, organization or family can get involved in any civic activities taking place across Kentucky, go to http://www.civics.ky.gov/.