The Hartwick Institute of Public Service High School Essay/Video Competition
The Hartwick Institute of Public Service is proud to invite any high school student in Chenango, Delaware, Herkimer, Madison, Montgomery, Oneida, Onondaga, Otsego and Schoharie Counties to submit a short essay or video suggesting creative ways to better engage young people in democracy.
Competition Prompt
In the 2022 midterm elections, only 20.7% of eligible young voters in New York cast a ballot.
That means that more than two million eligible young people in New York did not vote, a total that would have easily changed the outcome in any of the statewide political races.
In a 3-5 page typed essay or 3-5 minute video, describe some of the reasons why you believe that young voters are dissatisfied with the political process and suggest some creative ways to better engage young people in democracy.
Submission Guidelines
Students should submit their essay or a video to instituteofpublicservice@hartwick.edu by midnight on December 15, 2023.
Essays should be submitted as either a Microsoft Word or PDF file.
Videos should be submitted as an MP4 file.
In the body of your email, please be sure to include your name, school, and contact information.
Judging Criteria
The criteria that the judges will be using to assess the essay/video include the following:
- Does the essay/video fully address all parts of the prompt?
- Is the essay/video creative, compelling, and persuasive?
- Is the essay/video well written/well narrated? Submissions do not need to use outside sources but if they do use ideas from others, they need to be accurately attributed in the essay/video.
- Does the essay/video have a clear central argument stated in the introduction, supported throughout the essay/video, and restated in the conclusion?
Please note that, especially in regard to video submissions, the judges will NOT be assessing the production quality. We encourage video submissions to be as creative as possible, but we will be judging the strength of your ideas rather than the strength of your editing abilities.
HARTWICK COLLEGE INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC SERVICE
Hartwick College
Departments of
Political Science & Sociology, Criminology, and Human Services
If you have any questions about the essay/video competition, contact us at instituteofpublicservice@hartwick.edu.
Funding for this competition was made possible through a generous grant from the Community Foundation of Otsego County.