Essay Competition is open to any student worldwide as long as it is translated into English, who, as of May 1, 2008, is enrolled as a high-school, junior high, or elementary school student at the time of entry. All other entries will be disqualified.
Elementary compositions may be up to 200 words, while junior high and high school categories may be between 200 and 500 words. Each student may enter only one essay. The essay must have a title. Entries submitted online must include your name and home telephone number, including area code, as well as the title of your essay.
All parties involved with The Goodwill Treaty For World Peace do not assume responsibility for lost, late, misdirected, mutilated, and illegible entries, all of which will be disqualified.
Essays must be original, not in the public domain, factually accurate, and must not infringe or violate any law or the legal or equitable right of any person or entity, nor contain material that infringes or violates any personal property rights of others or that constitutes defamation, invasion of privacy, an infringement of the intellectual property rights of any third person, or is otherwise unlawful. By submitting an essay, each student acknowledges his or her understanding of and compliance with these rules. The Goodwill Treaty For World Peace reserve the right to disqualify any entry deemed inappropriate for publication, at their discretion. Essays will be judged by prescreening groups consisting of The Goodwill Treaty For World Peace Ambassadors, and then by a final judging panel. The decisions of the judges will be final. Essays will be judged on the following criteria:
effectiveness, insightfulness, creativity, and completeness of the message (50%)
organization and development of the ideas expressed, with clear and appropriate examples to support them (25%)
consistency in the use of language, variety in sentence structure and range of vocabulary, use of proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation (25%)
One student in each school category will win $100 for the first-prize winning essay, one more student in each school category will win $50 for the second-prize winning essays, and one final student in each school category will win $25 for the third-prize winning essays. Additionally there will be 2 entrants from each school category that will receive honorable mentions. Winning essays, as well as 6 honorable mentions (the authors of which are not entitled to any monetary or other award), may be published initially by The Goodwill Treaty For World Peace and the Bryant McGill Community. (All winners and honorable mentions will receive a copy of the McGill Rhyming Dictionary.) In the event of a tie, the essay with the higher score for creativity will win.
The likelihood of winning will depend upon the quality of all other entries as judged by the criteria stated above. Prizes are nontransferable. All prizes will be awarded. Competition is void where prohibited or restricted by law. Winners will be solely responsible for any federal, state or local taxes. Within 10 days of the date specified in the notification, winners and their parents/legal guardians will be required to execute an affidavit of originality, eligibility, and compliance with rules, a release of liability and grant of publication and photo rights, or the prize will be awarded to an alternate winner. Winners must provide a street address where The Goodwill Treaty For World Peace can mail the winners a publicity release, affidavit of eligibility, and if applicable, a tax form.
All essays and all rights to their publication become the property of The Goodwill Treaty For World Peace, which may use, edit and excerpt these entries for promotional or any other purpose, including placing them online (e.g., on www.goodwilltreaty.org) without attribution or compensation, additional or otherwise. The Goodwill Treaty For World Peace reserves the right to use prizewinners' names and hometowns in any advertising or promotional materials relating to this competition without further notification, permission, or compensation to the winners, except where prohibited by law.
Winners will be selected during the month of October 2008, and will be notified by mail. Winners will also be posted online at www.goodwilltreaty.org.
Recent Treaty Signers
Matt Damon
Ben Affleck
George Noory
Charles Barkley
Don Cheadle
Jason Alexander
Montel Williams
Raymond "Ray" Romano
Bibi McGill
Paul Gardener, Esquire
Jim "Supermind" Karol
Halima Rashid
Susaye Greene
Chantelle Paige
Katherine Kovin Pacino
