Central Ohio STC - Competitions

Central Ohio Chapter
Competitions Update

Central Ohio Chapter STC High School Hall of Fame

Congratulations to Aaron Didich, first place winner in the Central Ohio Chapter STC 2001-2002 High School Student Writing Competition. As a local winner, Aaron won $100 in cash was automatically entered in international competition. Didich attended Bellfontaine High School and is currently attending John Carroll University in Cleveland Ohio.

STUDENT TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION COMPETITION GUIDELINES

Sponsoring Chapter:

Name of chapter contact:

Chapter mailing address:

Chapter contact phone:

Central Ohio Chapter

Kathleen Stohrer

505 King Avenue, Columbus 43201

(614) 424-3507

For 18 years the STC has sponsored a technical communication competition for high school students. The Central Ohio Chapter of STC is proud to have had recent international winners – the Award of Excellence and $500.00 to Aaron Didich for "Cool Composting - The Natural Fertilizer" and Honorable Mention and a certificate to David Stipp for "How Can Credit Unions Provide Outstanding Services to Members." We greatly encourage you to provide your students with this information and opportunity. It is a great resume item for you as well as for the students. As always, we at the Central Ohio Chapter stand ready to assist you in any way that we can to make your students’ entries possible.

ELIGIBILITY

You must be a high school student in grades 10, 11, or 12.

You must author your paper between June 1, 2001, and the deadline for this competition, December 23, 2003.

You may enter only one paper in this competition, and it may not have been previously entered in any other STC competition.

Each entry may be co-authored by up to four students. Each co-author must submit a completed cover page. One copy of the cover page is included in this package.

ENTRY DEADLINE

All entries must be postmarked no later than December 23, 2003. Late entries will not be accepted.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

Submit an original report, essay, or expository article on a technical subject of your choosing. The paper may be written for a course; you need not write a paper especially for the competition. In general, an entry should convey factual information for a specific purpose and audience. An entry should also be objective and informative.

Objective means that you:

Clearly state and support your premises
Support conclusions with facts
Test personal observation under controlled conditions
Acknowledge and reference data or conclusions taken from other sources, and
Ensure that those data or conclusions are verifiable.

Informative means that the paper provides all information needed to enable the reader to understand a concept or process, form an opinion, or reach a decision.

AWARDS

The Central Ohio Chapter will present up to four of the following awards to competition winners who meet the requirements of technical writing.

	First Place	$100.00
	Second Place	$75.00
	Third Place	$50.00
	Fourth Place	$25.00

The first, second, and third place papers will also be submitted to the Society for Technical Communication’s 2003-2004 International Student Technical Communication Competition.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF WINNERS

The Central Ohio Chapter will announce the winners of this competition no later than May 1, 2004. Winners will be notified by letter. Awards will be presented at the chapter’s meeting in May 2004.

PAPER TOPICS

You should write about a topic in which you have a personal interest. Virtually any school course offers possible topics. The only restriction on a topic is that the paper must treat its subject from a technical perspective. If you have any questions about the acceptability of a topic, you should contact the competition manager, Kathleen Stohrer, before preparing and submitting an entry.

REFERENCES

You must acknowledge and reference all sources cited in your paper. References should include the following information: author, date, title, publisher, city, and state. The general rule of thumb is that each citation should include enough information to enable a reader to locate the source and find the information that was cited in the entry.

ENTRY FORMAT

Entries should conform to the following guidelines:
Length: Fifteen pages or less (including graphics, endnotes, and references)
Line spacing: 1 ½ or double space
Paper color: WhitePaper size: 8 ½” x 11”
Page numbering: Upper right corner or bottom margin
Binding: Stapled, upper left corner

Cover page / Entry form: You must complete the attached cover page / entry form including entry, author, and sponsoring high school information. For papers with more than one co-author, you must include a separate cover page / entry form for each author. One copy of the cover page / entry form is included in this package.

Please note that you and the sponsoring teacher must sign the statement at the bottom of the cover page / entry form attesting that the material contained in the paper is original work, and that all sources of information used for the paper are acknowledged.

ANONYMITY

To ensure unbiased, objective judging, do not put your name or the name of your high school on any page of your paper. This information should be on the cover page / entry form only.

NUMBER OF COPIES

You need only submit one (1) copy of your paper. Please do not submit the original paper. All entries become the property of the Central Ohio Chapter and will not be returned.

DOWNLOAD FORM

STC_entry_form.pdf (Adobe PDF format, 71KB)
Note: To save this form, right-click on the link and select the "Save as" option.

Central Ohio Chapter Competitions Update

Central Ohio Chapter
Competitions Update