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Campaign for Children's Health Care
"When an Apple a Day Isn't Enough"
National Essay Contest
Contest Rules |
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Below is a detailed description of the essay contest rules.
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Sponsor
“When an Apple a Day Isn’t Enough” national essay contest is sponsored by the Campaign for Children’s Health Care (“Sponsor”), P.O. Box 34143, Washington, D.C. 20043.
Eligibility
The Campaign for Children’s Health Care national essay contest, “When an Apple a Day Isn’t Enough,” is open to all children ages 9-18 (as of September 5, 2006) who live in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Employees, officers, and directors, (and their immediate family members and members of the same households, whether related or not) of the Campaign for Children’s Health Care, Families USA (the Campaign partner responsible for this essay contest), and judges of this contest, are not eligible to participate. Students enrolled in colleges, universities, or other advanced degree programs are not eligible. Participants agree to abide by the terms of these official rules and by the decisions of the Sponsor, which are final and binding on all matters pertaining to the contest. Participants under the age of 18 must obtain the consent of a parent or legal guardian (as described below) to enter the contest. The Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any participant that it determines, in its sole discretion, is ineligible to participate in the contest. The contest is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations and is void where prohibited by law or regulation.
Essay Requirements
Participants must produce their own work. Essays from children ages 9-13 should be no longer than 350 words and should be typed or written in legible handwriting. Essays from children ages 14-18 should be no longer than 800 words and should be typed or written in legible handwriting.
Submissions
No purchase is necessary, and there is no fee to enter or to win. Entries will be accepted between September 5, 2006, and October 31, 2006. Only fully completed entry forms are eligible. The participant’s name, age, grade, and state in which he or she lives must be on the top of the page on which the essay is written or typed. Proof of submission will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by the Sponsor. There are two ways to enter:
- Online: All online submissions must be received by 11:59 pm EST on October 31, 2006. All participants under the age of 18 must provide a parent/legal guardian’s name, phone number, and e-mail address, in lieu of a signature. When the parent or legal guardian provides his or her e-mail address during the online submission process, s/he attests that s/he has read and understands the rules of the contest. All online submissions will be deleted from the Sponsor’s online server at the end of the contest.
- By mail: Entries may also be submitted via U.S. mail to the Sponsor’s address listed below. Essays sent by mail must be postmarked by October 31, 2006, and must include a parent’s or legal guardian’s signature and phone number. The essay should be attached to the entry form.
Regardless of the form of entry, the parent or legal guardian of each participant under age 18 must submit a signed statement, either in writing or online, attesting that he or she has read, understood, and agrees to these contest rules and that such agreement constitutes acceptance of these contest rules on behalf of his or her child and him or herself. Entries without the necessary consent of a parent or legal guardian will not be accepted.
After the first round of finalists is selected, the Sponsor will contact the parent or legal guardian of each finalist to verify that the child’s information is correct and that s/he does indeed approve of his or her child’s participation.
Any fraudulent information provided by participants will lead to immediate disqualification from the contest.
ONLY ONE ENTRY PER PERSON. Additional copies of the entry forms and rules can be printed out from the Campaign’s Web site. All essays will become the property of the Sponsor upon submission and will not be returned. The Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, illegible, stolen, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible, misdirected, technically corrupted, or garbled entries, which will be disqualified, or for problems of any kind, whether mechanical, human, or electronic. All winning essays may be reproduced and distributed in Campaign publications, as well as posted on its Web site. Winning essays may be used for other purposes if determined by the Sponsor that such use would advance its mission. The Sponsor reserves the right to edit all essays used in a Campaign publication or posted on its Web site.
Children’s Privacy Policy
The personal information collected from participants (name, age, address, city, state, phone, e-mail address, and grade level) will be used and disclosed by the Sponsor only for the purpose of selecting and publicizing the winners. The Sponsor will not collect more information than reasonably necessary to conduct the essay contest. Such information will not be used or disclosed to any other entity for marketing or other purposes. A parent or legal guardian will be contacted if additional information is needed from the participant and in the event of a winning essay. No information about a winner will be used for any publicity or promotional purposes in regards to the contest without the specific permission of the parent or legal guardian. A parent or legal guardian has the right to review, change, and/or delete the participant’s personal information, and to refuse to permit the Sponsor’s further collection, use, or disclosure of the participant’s information. All such personal information will be deleted once the contest has ended. However, acceptance of a prize constitutes the winner’s permission for the Sponsor to use his/her name, state, age, school, likeness, photograph, picture, portrait, voice, biographical information, essay, and/or any statements made by each winner regarding this contest for advertising and promotional purposes without notice or additional compensation, except where prohibited by law.
Judging
The essays will be judged by people with post-secondary degrees or higher in either the education or health care field. Judges will review all eligible essays. Essays submitted online must be received by 11:59 EST on October 31, 2006. Essays submitted via U.S. mail must be postmarked by October 31, 2006.
There will be two rounds of judging in this contest. The first round will be used to select a state finalist for each age group in each state, for a maximum total of 102 state winners, provided that there are at least 30 eligible submissions in an age group submitted in that state. During this round, each state age group will be assigned one judge, who will read each essay and select, based on the criteria outlined below, his or her top choice, and two alternate choices. In the event that more than 60 eligible entries are received in any state age group, multiple judges may be used, with each judge reading an equal and reasonable number of essays, not to exceed 60. If this occurs, all judges for a state age group will be asked to select the top three essays, based on the criteria outlined below, from among the essays they read. These essays will then be pooled, and all of the judges from that state category will read this pool of essays and confer to select a top choice and two alternate choices to be awarded the state-level prize for that age group.
The 51 state finalists from each age group will comprise the pool of essays to be used to select the Grand Prize winner for each age group. Grand Prize winners will be selected by the Sponsor based on the criteria listed below. The Sponsor reserves the right to make the final decision on all essay finalists.
Winners will be notified by December 18, 2006. Odds of winning a prize will depend on the number of eligible entries received during the entry period in each state and each age group.
Judging Criteria
All essays will be judged according to the criteria listed below. Judges will adjust their scoring based on the age and grade level of each participant.
- Understanding of the issue: An outstanding essay will demonstrate that the participant understands the topic and how it relates to his or her life and community. The essay should present a clear central argument.
- Originality: Participants are not expected to conduct research for this essay. However, we do encourage participants to ask community members, parents, guardians, mentors, teachers, doctors, nurses, or other health care professionals for input. We expect participants not to simply repeat the ideas they hear from other sources—essays should display the participant’s ability to thoughtfully construct an argument and develop his or her own ideas.
- Clarity and effectiveness of style and organization: Essays should be grammatically correct and accurate in terms of spelling and word usage. Essays should present information in a clear and logical manner.
- Adherence to format and length rules: Essays must be no longer than 350 words for participants ages 9-13 years and no longer than 800 words for participants ages 14-18. The essays must be typed or written in legible handwriting. All essays must be submitted with a completed official entry form. The participant’s name, age, grade, and state in which he or she lives must be on the top of the page on which the essay is written or typed.
Awards
All prizes are non-transferable, and no substitutions are allowed except by the Sponsor. Arrangements for the fulfillment of all prizes will be made by the Sponsor. The dates listed below for fulfillment of the prizes are tentative, and such dates are subject to change at the Sponsor’s sole discretion.
- Grand Prize Winner—one winner per age group
$2,500 cash award, as well as an overnight trip to Washington, D.C. in early February 2007. The Grand Prize winner, along with one parent/legal guardian and one teacher/essay administrator, will be brought to Washington, D.C. for a special awards ceremony and Campaign event to be held in February 2007. All travel and lodging expenses will be paid for the Grand Prize winner, his or her parent/legal guardian, and the teacher/essay administrator by the Sponsor. Travel expenses include roundtrip, coach class transportation or other comparable transportation. Lodging expenses include a one-night stay in a Washington, D.C. hotel room chosen by the Sponsor for the Grand Prize winner and his or her parent/legal guardian, as well as separate accommodations in the same hotel for the teacher/essay administrator. Lodging expenses also include $50 per diem per person for meals during their two-day visit in Washington, D.C. The retail value of the Grand Prize is less than $5,000. Winning essays will be published online and in Campaign publications. The essays may be used for other purposes if determined by the Sponsor that such use would advance its mission.
- State Finalists—up to 51 winners per age group
$250 cash award, and winning essays will be published online and in Campaign publications. The essays may be used for other purposes if determined by the Sponsor that such use would advance its mission. Under limited circumstances as determined by the Sponsor, state finalists will be presented their awards at community forums in January 2007. Otherwise, the Sponsor will mail state finalists their awards to their mailing address.
- School, Local Program, or Local Organization Award—1 winner
A single $2,000 cash award, to be used for the purchase of educational supplies, will be awarded to the school, local program, or local organization identified on the greatest number of eligible entries to the contest. Entries from both age groups will be counted toward this total. The Sponsor will calculate this total based on the information provided on the official entry form.
Notification
Winners will be notified by e-mail or telephone and will be required to sign and return an Affidavit of Eligibility within 14 calendar days of the prize notification. If the winner is considered a minor in his/her jurisdiction of primary residence, the Affidavit of Eligibility must be signed by his/her parent or legal guardian, and such prize will be delivered to the minor’s parent/legal guardian and awarded in the name of such parent/legal guardian. If the winner cannot be contacted within 10 calendar days of first notification attempt, if any prize or prize notification is returned as undeliverable, if the Winner rejects his/her prize, or in the event of noncompliance with these Program rules and requirements, such prize will be forfeited, and an alternate winner will be selected by the Sponsor. Upon prize forfeiture, no payment will be made to the original winner.
Conditions
All federal, state, and local taxes are the sole responsibility of the winner (or if a minor, the parent/legal guardian). Participation in this contest and acceptance of a prize constitutes the winner’s permission for the Sponsor to use his/her name, state, age, school, likeness, photograph, picture, portrait, voice, biographical information, essay, and/or any statements made by each winner regarding this contest for advertising and promotional purposes without notice or additional compensation, except where prohibited by law. By entering, participants and winners agree to release and hold harmless the Sponsor and its employees, officers, and directors, from any and all liability for loss, harm, damage, injury, cost, or expense whatsoever, including without limitation, property damage, personal injury, and/or death, which may occur in connection with participation in this contest or any contest-related activity, or possession, acceptance, and/or use or misuse of a prize and for any claims based on publicity rights, defamation, or invasion of privacy and merchandise delivery. The Sponsor is not responsible if a prize cannot be awarded due to delays or interruptions due to acts of God, acts of war, natural disasters, weather, or acts of terrorism. Participants who do not comply with these Contest Rules, or who attempt to interfere with this contest in any way, shall be disqualified. There is no purchase or entry fee required to participate.
Limitation of Liability
If for any reason the contest is not capable of running as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or if any other causes corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of the contest, the Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the contest, as well as to disqualify any individual who tampers with the contest. The Sponsor assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft, or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, entries. The Sponsor is not responsible for problems or technical malfunctions of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers, or providers’ computer equipment, software, failure of any e-mail to be received by the Sponsor on account of technical problems, or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any Web site, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to participant’s or any other person’s computer related to or resulting from participation or downloading any materials in this contest.
Contest Results/Winner
If you want to receive information on the results of the contest, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope after January 31, 2007 to: Campaign for Children’s Health Care, P.O. Box 34143, Washington, D.C. 20043. The winners’ names, ages, and cities/states will be posted on the Campaign Web site.
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