Deirdre Smith
The Newtown Bee is hosting an essay contest for Newtown middle and high school students. The essay prompt will provide a chance for young adults to express what makes Newtown special to them. Two local residents made a contribution that will be rewarded to the finalists, and first place will receive $500, second place will receive $300, and third place will receive $200. The Newtown Bee will begin accepting submissions on Friday, December 16, and the deadline is January 27. They will be judged by First Selectman Dan Rosenthal and Newtown Bee Editor John Voket. The essays will be ranked by age, with the top three winners from middle school, ages 11 to 13, and high school, ages 14 to 18. There is no minimum word count, as the only rule is to be honest and creative. Only written content will be accepted, meaning no songs, videos, or visual artwork. All entries must be submitted via email, maximum word count of 500, and can be sent to editor@thebee.com with the subject “Why I LOVE Newtown”. Each entry must include the full name of the writer, their age, home address, name of their school, and phone number. The top-ranked entries will be published in The Newtown Bee!