Black Excellence Contest
"What Black Excellence Means to Me"
The Black Excellence contest is an opportunity for African American students, kindergarten through twelfth grades, in the Twin Cities, to share their thoughts about what Black Excellence means to them. Too many Black students are not succeeding academically. The graduation rates for African Americans in Minnesota are the lowest in the United States (38 percent). Simultaneously, white students in Minnesota have the highest graduation rates in the country (83 percent). The Black Excellence Movement gives Black children the opportunity to take back their power and demonstrate what Black Excellence is.
Criteria
There will be three categories
  • Kindergarten through fourth grades
  • Fifth through eighth grades
  • Ninth through twelfth grades

The kindergarten through fourth grades will demonstrate Black Excellence using an Art From.

The contestants' art will show: How I See Black Excellence in My Life and People around Me.

Students can use one of the following art forms: draw a picture, a painting, a clay project, a collage, or photography. When students submit art work, it must include the students name, age, grade, and at least one paragraph attached explaining how their art demonstrates Black Excellence in their lives. An adult can help the student with his or her paragraph.

Students in grades 5th -12th will write an essay.

They will answer the question: What Black Excellence Means to Me?

5-8 grade essays will be a maximum of 750 words.
9-12 grade essays will be a maximum of 1000 words.

The essay must address the following:
  1. What Black excellence means to me
  2. Examples where you (the writer) have demonstrated Black Excellence
  3. Examples of adults in your life (the writer) who have demonstrated Black Excellence
  4. Advice to other students on how to achieve Black Excellence
Prizes

The top three (3) winners of the Kindergarten through Fourth grades Art Projects will receive:
  • First Prise: A Nintendo Wii
  • Second Prise: A Bicycle
  • Third Prise: A $50 Rides Book at Nickelodeon Park in the Mall of America
All Prizes also include a book on Black History.


The top three (3) winners of the Fifth through Eighth Grades and the Ninth through Twelfth grades Essay Contests will win:
  • First Prise: An All expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. with a tour of the city by Congressman Keith Ellison. Winner will also present essay to the Black Congressional Caucus
  • Second Prise: $500 College Scholarship to the school of your choice
  • Third Prise: An Apple I-Pod
All Prizes also include a book on Black History.

Submissions will be accepted from September 29 through October 31, 2008.

All winning essays will be published in Insight News. Winners will be announced at the WE WIN Institute's 15th annual Kwanzaa Celebration on Saturday, December 27, at the State Theater in downtown Minneapolis.

Send essays and art projects to:

WE WIN Institute, Inc.
3805 Third Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55409
612-721-2364
www.we-win.org
blackexcellence@we-win.org


© 2007 WE WIN Institute Inc.