Our Town

As chair of the town’s Affirmative Action Advisory Committee, I would like to take the opportunity to use my blog to help publicize a writing contest that should be of interest to high school students in Greenwich. The AAAC is co-sponsoring this contest with the Greenwich Time in the interest of increasing awareness of diversity issues in the community.

The contest is open to any student who is enrolled in a Greenwich school, public or private, and is in the 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th grade. The writing topic is: What Does Diversity Mean To You?

We have extended the submission deadline to April 16.

Entries may be in the form of short fiction or non-fiction and may not exceed 1,000 words. The judges will assess the submissions for style, originality, clarity and adherence to the theme of diversity.

All entries must be received by 5 p.m. on Friday, April 16. Students should submit their work by email to the Affirmative Action Advisory Committee at the following email address: diversitycontest@greenwichct.org

The body of the email should include the student’s name, contact information (telephone, email and home address), name of the school, grade level, submission category (fiction or non-fiction) and total word count. The work of fiction or non-fiction should be attached in “.doc” or “.txt” format. There should be no name, or any personal identifier, in the attached submission.

All finalists will have their entries published in the Greenwich Time. In addition, gift card prizes will be awarded to the finalists at the Affirmative Action Advisory Committee’s Annual Meeting in May. First place finalists in each category will receive a gift card worth $300. Second place finalists will receive a $200 gift card and third place finalists a $100 gift card.

The following individuals and organizations have provided monetary, or other, support to help make this contest possible: Bethel AME Church, Greenwich Fellowship of Clergy, Greenwich Kiwanis Club, Greenwich YWCA, Law Office of Joel Kaye, Temple Sholom, Hernan and Constance Narea and United Way of Greenwich.

Flyers with contest information are available upon request and have been posted in the Greenwich libraries and in other locations in town.

All inquiries should be sent to: diversitycontest@greenwichct.org