Calling all Sequim students in grades 6-12! Do you enjoy writing or are you interested in getting started? Lace up your writing skills with this shoe-themed contest!

The Sequim Library’s Teen Advisory Board chose this year’s theme: Shoes. If the shoe fits, write about it! Winners will receive a $25 gift card to the Sweet Spot in Sequim.

Entries are accepted Monday, April 15, through Wednesday, May 15. Learn how to enter below.

Kick it to the Write-In and Workshop for writing tips and ideas! Students in grades 6-12 are welcome to attend without entering the contest.

HOW TO ENTER

Submit your original short story, nonfiction essay, or poem for the chance to win. Any style will be considered, such as a science-fiction story or a personal story about your favorite shoes … Any genre, any form!

There are only two requirements for your project’s content:

  1. Your original writing submission must be 300 words or less.
  2. Include a reference to SHOES somewhere in your story. The reference can be a description of someone wearing shoes, a brief mention of your favorite brand of shoe, a synonym for shoes, or a metaphor using shoes. Your whole story can be about shoes (but it doesn’t need to be). Use your imagination. Extra points will be awarded for using this prompt creatively!

There are two ways Sequim students submit original writing to be judged for the contest:

Option 1. Submit a paper copy at the Sequim Branch Library Temporary Location (609 W. Washington, near the former JCPenney) during open hours. Your submission must include a separate submission form that includes your contact information. This separate form will allow judging results to be anonymous and based on merit.

Option 2. Email a digital copy to teens@nols.org  Please attach your submission as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf file. Contact information must be submitted via the submission form as a separate attachment OR in the body of the email (make sure to include all information from the submission form). This separate form will allow judging results to be anonymous and based on merit.

Submissions must be received by 7pm on May 15, 2024, to be considered for prizes.

PRIZES

There will be one grand-prize winner and two runners-up from each category*:

  1. Grades 6 to 8
  2. Grades 9 & 10
  3. Grades 11 & 12

Grand prize
A $25 gift card for a cold treat at the Sweet Spot Frozen Yogurt.

Runners-up prizes
A small writing-themed prize (up to $10 value).

*If you are not enrolled in the school district, you will be placed in the grade category that most closely matches your age group.

Winners will be contacted by phone or email, whichever is preferred on the submission form. Winners will be announced on social media with the submitter’s permission May 31.

ELIGIBILITY

Anyone is welcome to join the Write-In and Workshop, but participants must have a Sequim address, use the Sequim Branch as their primary public library, OR attend a school in the Sequim School District in order to be considered for prizes.

JUDGING

Submissions will be judged anonymously, by a panel including: Charlotte McGrew, youth services librarian at Sequim Branch Library, Elijah Sussman of Peninsula College, and members of the Teen Advisory Board. Submissions will be judged based on a pre-made rubric.

The writing contest was designed in collaboration with the Sequim Teen Advisory Board.

This program is generously supported in part by Friends of Sequim Library.