Community Pillar

Catholic Citizenship Essay Contest

Overview. The Knights of Columbus sponsors the Catholic Citizenship Essay Contest to encourage today’s youth to be more connected to their community and their faith. The goal of this program is to involve young Catholics in 8th through 12th grade (public, private, parochial or home schools) in civic discourse and instill in them religious and life-affirming values. The essay should be approximately 500-750 words on a specific subject, changing every other year. Entrants will be judged on grammar, style, and how clearly they present the theme – which should showcase creativity, imagination and overall development of the topic.

Guidelines

1. To obtain maximum participation the contest MUST be Council driven.

2. Council shall order the CCEC materials:

3. Council representatives shall contact local schools to make them aware of the contest and invite their students’ participation.

4. Contest is open to students in grades eight (8) through twelve (12).

5. Schools are asked to submit ONE winner for EACH grade level.

6. Councils will submit the BEST entry for each grade to the DISTRICT DEPUTY.

7. District Deputy (or team) will submit the District’s winner to Ontario State.

8. State Team will appraise and select FIRST and SECOND place in each grade.

9. State Team will award prizes and submit First place essays to Supreme.

Please be aware that, in addition to GKs and DDs, School Boards were notified directly last year therefore the staff should already be aware of the CCEC and the parameters.

This year INCOMPLETE/LATE/NON-GUIDELINES entries WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

A) Essays must reflect the assigned theme available on the KofC website in Faith In Action section-Community programs: 2023-2024 Essay Topic (https://www.kofc.org/en/what-we-do/faith-in-action-programs/community).
B) Essays must be the student’s original work
C) Essays must be typed and limited to 500-750 words in length
D) The student’s name will be typed and appear only on the CCEC Entry form and stapled to the essay.
E) All entries become the property of the Knights of Columbus and will not be returned.

Timelines: Please note Major change this year.

The Essay Contest Council participation form (#4216) must be submitted to “Supreme Council Department of Fraternal Services” by December 31.
September/October: Students write essays and submit school winners to councils.
October/November: Judges review essays for councils
December: Essays submitted to District Deputy for District Judging where necessary and submitted to State for Jurisdiction judging and submission to
Supreme for international entry.

Reference: https://www.kofc.org/un/en/what-we-do/faith-in-action-programs/resources/?icon-tabs=3

For more information, contact Catholic Citizenship Essay Contest State Chairman, Serge Marcel at stateoffice@ontariokofc.ca