Kentucky Teacher

Three middle school students were voted by the public as having coined the best slogans to promote voting in Kentucky.

Kassidy Kobb, a sixth-grade home school student in Muhlenberg County, submitted the winning slogan, “Make a choice. Use your voice. Vote!” For her first-place finish, Kobb will receive a $1,000 cash prize, which will be presented to her at the Civic Health Initiative roundtable at Henderson Community and Technical College on April 9th.

Second place and a $600 award go to Victoria Kelly Brunson, a seventh grader at Northern Middle School in Pulaski County, for the slogan, “Be the change, to see the change. VOTE!”

Tiarra Adkins, who is in the sixth grade at Olmsted Academy South in Jefferson County, won third place and a $400 prize for her submission: “Voting is showing you care. [Clap twice.]”

An honorable mention was awarded to Jessica Bailey, a sixth grader at Wallins Elementary in Harlan County, for her slogan, “We the people – Need to vote!” Read the full story

The March 22 deadline is quickly approaching for entering the annual art and scholarship competition called Doodle 4 Google. Now in its sixth year, the Doodle 4 Google Program is an annual competition open to students K-12 across the U.S.

Students are asked to create their own Google doodle around this year’s theme “My Best Day Ever…” The winning artist’s piece will be displayed on the Google homepage for millions to see, and the winner will receive a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 technology grant for his or her school.

Entries are judged based on five different grade group levels. There will be a winner from each state for each grade group and of those five, one will be selected as the Doodle 4 Google state representative. He or she will then be eligible for the grand prize and travel to New York City on May 22 for the final awards ceremony alongside the other 49 state winners.

Entry forms can be downloaded from Google’s Doodle 4 Google site and completed doodles can be submitted by mail or online. Full classrooms and schools are encouraged to participate and an educator’s guide is also available. For details, including full contest rules and entry forms go to google.com/doodle4google.

Doodle 4 Google is an annual competition for students, grades K-12, and is now open for submissions.

Students are asked to use their artistic talents to think big and redesign the Google homepage logo for millions to see. This year the theme is “My Best Day Ever…”

Fifty talented state finalists (one from each state) will be selected and travel to New York City to celebrate their achievements. The grand-prize winner will be decided by a public vote. The winner will get to see their doodle on the Google.com homepage and receives a $30,000 scholarship for college. Additionally, their school will receive a $50,000 technology grant. All 50 finalists will have their work displayed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and receive prizes for their talent and creativity. Submissions close March 22.  Learn more on the Doodle4Google website.

The 51st Annual Kentucky Junior Historical Society Conference (KJHS) will be held April 26-27, at the University of Louisville. To attend the KJHS Conference, students must be registered KJHS members.

The state History Day contest will be held in conjunction with the conference. Students planning to compete at the state level must first compete at a district level contest.

• District 1 & 2, Kentucky Wesleyan College, Owensboro, March 23
• District 3, duPont Manual High School, Louisville, March 9
• District 4, No contest location, compete at District 2 or 3 contest
• District 8, Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College, Cumberland,
  March 29
• District 5, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, March 16
• District 6, Northern Kentucky University, Covington, March 2
• District 7, Morehead State University, Morehead, March 2

To find out where your students should participate, please see this map. Read the full story

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland’s Creative Writing Contest: “Future World: How would you like to pay for that?” asks high school juniors and seniors to explain in an essay, play, short story or poem what future world looks like to them.

Submissions must be postmarked on or before Feb. 28. There are prizes available for students, teachers and schools. Go to http://www.clevelandfed.org/learning_centerfor more information and to get a student entry form. For more information, contact april.mcclellan-copeland@clev.frb.org at (216) 774-2756.

Kentucky students in grades K-6 have a chance to win $1,500 toward college and $500 for their school in the “Dream Out Loud Challenge.” Students are invited to submit an original drawing, poem, essay or video answering the question: “How will I change the world after I go to college?”

The challenge, sponsored by the Kentucky Education Savings Plan Trust (KESPT), is intended to remind families that it is never too early to start saving and planning for higher education. Six winning entries will be selected by a panel of judges. One winner will be chosen from each of two submission categories — drawing or video, and essay or poem — in grades K-2, grades 3-4 and grades 5-6. The winning students will receive a $1,500 KESPT college savings account, and their schools will win $500. The contest runs from Jan. 21 through March 22, 2013.

KESPT is Kentucky’s official college savings plan and is administered by the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority and managed by TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing. The plan helps parents, grandparents and others invest in a child’s future Read the full story

Teachers can win $1,000 for the classroom by entering the WetlandsLIVE video contest.

Highlight a service learning project, art or music activity, field research, or any other project focusing on wetlands.

For more information, go to http://wetlandslive.pwnet.org/.

The Kentucky Sesquicentennial Commission on the Civil War is hosting a Civil War essay contest for Kentucky middle school and high school students this year.

The essay is to address Kentucky’s place in the Civil War and may include key battles in Kentucky, the effects of the war on Kentuckians and contributions made by African Americans.

All students in grades 6-12 from public, private or home schools are eligible to compete in the essay contest. For more information, contact Marshall Myers or via phone at (859) 622-3090.

The North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), in conjunction with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is sponsoring its environmental education (EE) video contest for high school and college undergraduate students.

The focus of the contest is to showcase environmental education heroes – people who can inspire students to chart a career path in environmental education and harness their own power to improve the world.

Four winners (two from the high school level and two from the college undergraduate level) will receive an iPad3, and their video will be featured on NAAEE’s website and at the NAAEE annual conference in October.

Entries will be in the form of video profiles of educators discussing what they do and how they found their path to help educate and empower others to value and protect our planet.

Winning profiles will reflect people from diverse backgrounds, genders, ethnicities, communities and in a wide variety of EE related career fields. The deadline to submit material is July 31.

For more information, go to www.naaee.net/careervideocontest.

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.