PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Students at Presque Isle High School and Middle School have the opportunity to participate in contests designed to celebrate Maine’s bicentennial. Presque Isle’s Bicentennial Committee is holding two contests: an essay contest for high school students and a photo contest for middle school students. Both contests will be offering cash prizes.
Students at Presque Isle High School wishing to participate should write an essay in 500 words or less discussing a challenging aspect of state or local history, what they have learned from it and how that knowledge can positively shape their future. The contest theme is “Maine leads.”
Maine 200 Educational Resources tells us that “Though much of Maine is rural and geographically isolated, it has long played an outsized role on the national scene. It has often been said that as Maine goes, so goes the nation. Maine’s entry as a state came at a key moment in the national debate about slavery, equality, and American ideals. Mainers have a strong tradition of common sense and working together to solve problems and make things better.”
Entrants should be careful to use proper verb tense and sentence structure. Spelling and punctuation will also be taken into consideration. Essays should be typed and submitted by mail with entrant’s name, age, grade and home address by Oct. 31 to Presque Isle Historical Society, P.O. Box 285, Presque Isle, ME 04769.
A panel of judges will select the top three essays awarding ribbons for first, second and third with cash prizes of $100, $75 and $50 respectively.
Students at Presque Isle Middle School who wish to participate should take a photo that represents what Maine means to them and submit it with a one sentence explanation as to why the photo represents Maine to them. The theme for this contest is “Living in Maine.”
Maine 200 Educational Resources states that “Maine has been inhabited for thousands of years. The people and land shape one another. The geography, climate and natural resources also determine how we exist here.” The photo should be submitted via email in JPG format to pihistoricalsociety@hotmail.com by Oct. 31. Entries should include name, age, grade and certify that the student has actually taken the photo.
A panel of judges will select the top three photos awarding ribbons for first, second and third with cash prizes of $50, $30 and $20 respectively.
For more information on the Presque Isle Historical Society and its many programs and events,
