The Nutmeg After School Writing Contest is open to middle school students participating in 21st Century Community Learning Center (21st CCLC) or State funded after school programs. The contest encourages young writers and rewards them for their writing ability with prizes at a state level competition.

Who:
If you are a middle school student (grades 6-8) and are currently participating in a 21st CCLC or State funded after school program, you’re eligible to participate! (If you don’t know, talk to your program director to see if your program is eligible.)

When:
There are four contests throughout the year. All entries must be submitted to your program directors by the following dates:

• October 31st – Thriller/Scary Story
  
• December 22nd – A Picture’s Worth 100(0) Words
  
• February 29th – Teen Issues
  
• April 30th – Appreciating Our Heroes

Prizes:
Prizes are awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners! Click the links above for prize information for a specific contest. Prizes include:

• Canon PowerShot ELPH 300 HS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 8GB Memory Card
  
• Apple iPod Touch (8GB) (4th Generation)
  
• Kindle, Wi Fi, 6” E Ink Pearl Display
  
• Flip UltraHD Video Camera – Black, 8 GB, 2 Hours (3rd Generation)
  
• Coby 7-inch Portable DVD/CD/MP3 Player
  
• Apple iPod shuffle 2GB

How to Enter:
Talk to your program directors about entering your program in the competition. Each program will judge their own entries and send the top three winners to the state level competition.

Winner Notification:
Winners will be notified within one month of the original submission date. Winning entries will be posted on CREC’s website and prizes will be distributed to program staff at the state level meetings.

December 2011 Winners:

First Place: Ahmed - Norwich (Above)
Click here to read Ahmed's poem.

Second Place: Shenelle - East Hartford (Above)
Click here to read Shenelle's poem.




Third Place: Kelly - Ansonia (Above)
Click here to read Kelly's poem.

October 2011 Winners:


First Place: Amanda – Ansonia (Above)
Click here to read her story.

Second Place: Imani - Hartford
(No photo available.)
Click here to read her story.

Third Place: Alex - Ansonia (Above)
Click here to read his story.

Judging:
Rubrics for each contest are as follows:

• October 31st – Thriller/Scary Story
  
• December 22nd – A Picture’s Worth 100(0) Words
  
• February 29th – Teen Issues
  
• April 30th – Appreciating Our Heroes

You will submit your entry to your program directors who will hold a program level competition, selecting 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners for the state competition. Program directors will then submit the three winning entries electronically to Kaitlyn O’Leary at koleary@crec.org.

Your entry will remain anonymous and will be read by three scorers. Then, at a state meeting, scores will be averaged and winners selected based on the highest average score. To enter the contest, your program must volunteer a staff member to score state level submissions (approx. 5-9) and attend a state level meeting.

Program Level and State Level Submission Dates:

*Please contact Kaitlyn O’Leary for more information on the middle school meetings.