5M-2 Essay Contest

The Lions Clubs of District 5M2 wish to announce an Essay Contest for Students in grades 9 through 12. We invite the students to submit their best essays of approximately 500 words in length to be judged by a committee for awarding of cash prizes.  Essays should be submitted by October 15, 2024 for judging to the local Lions Club.

This years topic follows that of Lions International President Fabricio Oliveira’s theme, “Make Your Mark.”  We are requesting that the students write on the following topic:

Oliveira shared his message to all Lions: “No matter one’s talents, interests, or financial situation there is always an opportunity to make a difference. Make your Mark. Everywhere we serve, every time we give, we bring kindness and compassion, change and hope.” Writers can demonstrate how their individual talents and interests have allowed them to Make their Mark by serving with kindness and compassion to bring about change and hope. In this essay, write about who you are, how you answer those needs, and actions you take with others providing service.

We allow flexibility in topics if the student is uncomfortable with these.

Winners will receive cash awards. First, the local club will chose a winner who will be awarded a prize and will probably be invited by the club to receive their award and present their work to the group. The winners will have their essay sent to a Zone chair, and possibly to the District level of the contest. Zone winners will receive $100; and the District’s 1st place winner will receive $500 plus a plaque, 2nd place winner will receive $300.00 and 3rd place winner will receive $200.00. District finalists will be invited to read their essay to a large audience in Mankato in February.

Judging of the essays will be fairly similar to methods used to judge your essay in school. The four areas recommended to the judges for selection of winning essays are:

Originality (10%) - Original work and proper credit cited

Content (30%) – Interesting; does it draws conclusions and offer recommendations

Organization (30%) - Normal essay structure and flows evenly

Mechanics (30%) - Correct in normal mechanics and uses good sentence structure

Contact me with any questions
Lion Deb Koehnen
600 Madison St SE Watertown, MN
[email protected]
952-797-2082

Lions Write-Off Letter to Club Presidents

Lions Write-Off Resume

Lions Write-Off Judging