Delaware Interfaith Power & Light believes in the power of young voices to inspire change. We're inviting high school aged students from across Delaware to share your personal experiences of how climate change impacts you through RENEW: Reflective Essays on Nature, Earth, and their Wonders.
Scholarships awards will be offered to the most compelling essays, empowering the next generation of leaders to take action on this pressing global issue. This contest is an opportunity for students to connect with the world around them, harness their creativity, and make their voices heard. Join us in this crucial conversation, and let your words make a difference through RENEW. Together, we can shape a brighter, greener tomorrow.
Important Dates
Topics:
Youth Climate Action
Climate change has been referred to as an existential threat to our social, ecological, and economic systems… to the overall health of our planet. How do you envision the unique role that youth/YOU can play in framing this challenge, fostering collaborative action, innovating creative solutions, and/or advocating for your own future here in Delaware. More specifically, how can you raise awareness in your own school among students and teachers?
Environmental Injustices:
Everyone is or will be impacted by threats to the health of our natural environment and, most profoundly, by the effects of a warming planet - but some of us more than others. All too often, those most negatively affected by these threats are both least responsible for contributing to them and lacking the resources to adapt to them. How do you define environmental justice? Have you or someone you know suffered the consequences of environmental injustice? What specifically can youth do to redress these injustices in Delaware?
Your Individual Connection with Nature:
The web of life is truly that – a profound and intricate connectedness and the delicate balances that exist within a healthy body, a healthy community and the larger ecosystem within which they function. How does your own sense of connectedness inspire and inform your experience of the natural world and your place in it? How does it fuel and guide your motivation to protect it? What actions can you take to help future generations experience that wonder?
"The future holds its breath believing in you"
-- Kathleen Dean Moore
Judging Criteria:
Clarity – how clearly are reflections, arguments, opinions, evidence expressed?
Passion – how well does the student convey their personal passion for their topic?
Attention to the theme – how closely does writing align with the chosen topic?
Creativity – to what extent does the writing display originality of thought, both in the content of the ideas expressed and the way they are presented?
Persuasiveness/effectiveness – with consideration for attention to theme, how impactful is the writing, in terms of its ability to provide a different perspective, inspire a broader or deeper understanding, and/or compel to action?
There will be 3 top awards: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, and 7 Honorable Mentions. Each of the top 10 will receive a cash prize.
Last year, the top prize (scholarship) awarded was $2,000.
