Environmental essay contest registration due May 15

Delaware Interfaith Power & Light will host its first essay contest for all high school students statewide, called Renew ... Reflective Essays on Nature, Earth and their Wonders. More specifically, themes relate to climate change, environmental justice, and humans’ intimate relationship to the natural world.

Registration is required at delawareipl.org by Sunday, May 15.

Participants will have three different days and times in June to choose from to compose their essays online from their homes or anywhere they have internet access.

The theme for 9 a.m., Friday, June 10, will be climate action and advocacy. The theme for 7 p.m., Tuesday, June 14, will be the human experience of and relationship to nature. Environmental justice will be the theme for contests writing at 1 p.m., Sunday, June 19.

Students can choose their participation dates based on their interest in the topic and their availability. The specific topic each day will be shared at the time of login. Participants will have 90 minutes to write up to 1,000 words.

The three top winners in each county will win cash awards of $1,000, $750 and $500. The grand prize winner, the top essayist in Delaware, will receive $2,000. Additional opportunities and incentives for all participants are being explored. A diverse panel of judges will use grading parameters that include clarity, passion, attention to theme, creativity, accuracy and persuasiveness.

Part of the inspiration for this contest came last year when Delaware Interfaith Power & Light hosted Michael Nelson and Kathleen Dean Moore, co-editors of “Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril,” as presenters for one of its monthly webinars. “Moral Ground,” first published in 2010 and recently reissued, is a collection of essays from more than 80 visionaries around the globe presenting a compelling call to honor people’s individual and collective moral responsibility to the planet.

“We would like to hear from our young visionaries in Delaware on these critical issues, and to encourage them to give voice to their own passions, perspectives, motivations and hopes for the future. We have much to learn from them,” said Lisa Locke, recently retired director of Delaware Interfaith Power & Light.

For more information, contact Lisa Locke at lisavlocke@gmail.com or Charanjeet Singh Minhas at charanjeetsinghminhas@gmail.com.