ESSAY Contest Rules & Prizes
Here's everything you need to know about the essay contest. Want a printable version? Click here.
HOW TO ENTER
Send in your entry forms, waivers, and a copy of your essay to:
Florida KidCare Act-Out for Health Contest
661 E. Jefferson Street, 2nd Floor
Tallahassee, FL 32301
Entries must be postmarked no later than Friday, January 6, 2012.
AWARDS
The Act-Out for Health Essay Contest is open to all 4th through 12th grade students in the state of Florida. The Act-Out for Health Essay Contest winners will be selected by a panel of Florida KidCare judges. District winners will be selected from three regions across the state. (Click here for details about which district/region your school is in). Judges will select one winner from each of the three regions to advance to the Statewide Grand Prize finals. A Statewide Grand Prize will then be awarded to one of the three regional winners. The Statewide Grand Prize winner cannot claim both a regional prize and the statewide prize.
District Winners: $50 for each winner.
Regional Winners: $300 to the winning student and $100 to the school.
Statewide Grand Prize Winner: $350 for elementary and $500 for middle/high school winners; and $250 for the schools.
If your entry is selected as a winner, the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation may request you social security number for accounting purposes so you can receive your award. All winners will be invited to attend an awards ceremony in Orlando in early February. Winners unable to attend this event will be mailed their prizes. Winning entries will be posted on the Act-Out for Health Contest website following the statewide awards ceremony.
THEMES
So, you’ve probably heard your parents talking about it or maybe you’ve seen it on the news. These days, it seems everyone is talking about health care. Now it’s your turn. First we have to ask: do you know about the importance of having health insurance? Your thoughts and answers are what we need for this competition.
For this year’s contest, we’ve come up with three themes. You get to pick one theme to develop your creative billboard designs. Here’s what we’ve got:
Theme 1: Stay healthy with Florida KidCare
Children enrolled in Florida KidCare receive comprehensive health coverage including doctor visits, shots, surgery, prescriptions, vision and hearing screenings, mental health care, dental check-ups and hospital stays.
With these quality health care services offered through the Florida KidCare program, kids like you can stay healthy, and stay active in the classroom and on the field (or stage, or studio, or…well you get the picture).
Theme 2: This is what healthy looks like.
When you feel good, you look good. Maintaining healthy habits like eating right, exercising and getting regular checkups can help keep our bodies strong, teeth clean, and mind fabulous. Especially when you have health insurance like Florida KidCare.
The trick to looking and feeling your best is about making the right choices over the wrong ones. It’s as simple as choosing carrots over candy, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or having great health insurance instead of hoping for the best.
Theme 3: Healthy is more fun than you think.
Being healthy doesn’t have to be a chore or a bore.
It’s easy to make eating healthy and exercising fun. You and your friends can get together to create delicious snacks. You can exercise during one of your favorite TV shows. Or you can plan a day of fun activities for you and your favorite folks.
However you choose to make it fun, the key to it all is having health insurance so you can get regular checkups, prescriptions and more.
Once you’ve picked a theme, you should start writing your essay. Remember, this is a solo project and only entries submitted by individual students will be accepted. Also, remember to follow the contest rules and guidelines outlined below so your entry won’t get disqualified.
RULES
The essay is a new component to the Act-Out for Health Contest so please make sure you read the rules carefully.
Grade Requirement. We’re looking for an essay written for students, by students. Only 4th through 12th grade students in the state of Florida can participate. You can get help from a teacher or mentor, but remember: the writing must be completed by elementary, middle or high school students.
Content: All students participating in the essay contest should address one of the themes/topics outlined above. Where appropriate, the essay should include how Florida KidCare and good health can help students meet the goal or goals of the theme chosen.
Length: The essay should be no less than 150 words and no more than 500 words. Essays must be type-written, double spaced with a font size of 12 point. Each student may enter only one essay, one time; all subsequent entries will not be considered. Group essays will not be accepted.
Must-have Information. Essays submitted must include the student’s name, home address, telephone number, school the student attends, grade level, title of the essay, and a word count at the end of the essay. The essay must be about the theme/topic selected. All essays must be submitted with a contest terms of agreement form.
A word about spelling and grammar. Points may be deducted from essays that have excessive spelling and grammar errors. These essays are to be written and submitted by students with a minimum of help by teachers or mentors so some minor errors are acceptable. Submissions, however, should not be so full of errors that judges are distracted by the errors and cannot understand what message the student is attempting to convey. Essays should be as neat and correct as possible for the child’s grade level.
No favorites. Sorry, but the children of Florida Healthy Kids Corporation employees or board members are not eligible to participate.
