2021 Scholarship Contest
WHAT – Applicants will submit an essay of approximately 600 words on this topic: How do the 7 Cooperative Principals satisfy the needs of a community?
WHO – The contest is open to all high school juniors in the Cotton Electric service area. The students and their families do not have to be Cotton Electric members. Juniors who are sons or daughters of Cotton Electric Cooperative employees and board members are not eligible to participate. Employees and board members will not serve as judges.
WHEN – The deadline to submit an essay and completed application is Jan. 18.
More details at Guidelines
HOW – The contest is broken into three rounds and starts with the essay contest. Area juniors may submit an essay of approximately 600 words to Cotton Electric.
Writers of the top 15 essays move to the second round, a live video interview. The question-and-answer video call between students and independent judges will be arranged by Cotton Electric.
The top 5 will advance to the final round. The finalists will be required to record a video of themselves reciting their essay in a speech-type format. Videos will be submitted to another set of judges and the final two winners will be determined. Each will receive a $1,500 scholarship.
2021 SCHOLARSHIP CONTEST
CALL FOR ENTRIES
To address uncertainty and in the interest of safety, Cotton Electric’s annual essay contest has been modified for 2021.
All high school juniors attending schools within the Cotton Electric Cooperative service territory are invited to enter the 2021 Cotton Electric Scholarship contest. The essay contest has three phases and the top two entries will be awarded a
$1,500 SCHOLARSHIP
Entry forms and contest information is available at www.CottonElectric.com/scholarship.
The contest is open to all high school juniors attending or residing within the district of the schools listed below, including home-schooled students.
Big Pasture Cache Central High
Chattanooga Comanche Duncan
Elgin Empire Geronimo
Grandfield Indiahoma Lawton Eisenhower
Lawton High Lawton MacArthur
Marlow Ryan Sterling
Temple Velma-Alma
Walters Waurika
Juniors who are sons or daughters of Cotton Electric Cooperative employees and board members are not eligible to participate. Employees and board members will not serve as judges.
Some schools listed may include students whose parents receive electric service from another electric cooperative. If their electric cooperative does not participate in Youth Tour, such students will be allowed to enter Cotton Electric Cooperative’s contest. If their cooperative sponsors a Youth Tour contest, those students have an option to choose between the two cooperatives. Students will be ineligible if they enter more than one essay or more than one contest.
CONTEST DETAILS
The contest is broken into three rounds and starts with the essay contest. Area juniors may submit an essay of approximately 600 words to Cotton Electric.
Writers of the top 15 essays move to the second round, a live video interview. The question-and-answer video call between students and independent judges will be arranged by Cotton Electric.
The top 5 will advance to the final round. The finalists will be required to record a video of themselves reciting their essay in a speech-type format. Videos will be submitted to another set of judges and the final two winners will be determined.
Contest dates
Jan. 18, 2021 Essay deadline – Essays must be submitted online by 3 p.m.
Feb. 10 Live video interviews of authors of Top 15 essays
Feb. 22 Video presentation of Top 5 essays must be uploaded by 3 p.m.
CONTEST RULES
- Topic for 2021 Essay is: “How do the 7 Cooperative Principles satisfy the needs of a community?”
- Fill out all required fields and upload an essay of about 600 words on the above topic at www.CottonElectric.com/scholarship
- Deadline is 3 p.m. January 18, 2021 for uploading completed essays.
- All submissions are made anonymous before submission to judges.
- Entry page on the Cotton Electric website will include links to some reference materials. Students are encouraged to seek other sources of information, including libraries, newspaper articles, websites, and magazines. BE ORIGINAL!
- Essay will be judged by the following criteria: Knowledge of subject, 40%; Originality, 30%; Composition, 10%; Grammar, 10%; and Spelling & Punctuation, 10%.
- Independent judges will score the essays. The process will narrow the pool of candidates to 15.
- In the second round of competition, the top 15 essayists will be invited to participate in a live-video interview to discuss the essay and general cooperative knowledge with independent judges. Two employees from other cooperatives will conduct the interviews and select 5 finalists.
- The finalists will record a video of themselves reciting their essay in a speech-type format. Videos should be 5 minutes or less in length and will be submitted via the Cotton Electric website.
- Final judging criteria will be based on Speaking Ability, Knowledge of Subject, Poise, and Personality & Appearance. A panel of three independent judges will rate each speaker.
- The two top presenters will be awarded a $1,500 scholarship each.
- Judges’ decisions throughout the process are final.
In addition to the information included on our website, students are encouraged to use other sources of information found at the local library or from the internet. Preparing for the Cotton Electric essay contest is a good way to work on creative writing skills that are important for all high school students, especially those planning to attend college.
These links will take you to pages on our website or they will open PDFs. Applicants are encouraged to research other sites and resources.
For more information regarding the essay contest, call Cotton Electric at 580-875-3351 or email YouthPrograms@CottonElectric.com.