Spirit Writing competition

Man hand with pen writing on notebook.
 

Spirit Writing Competition

About the Competition

The Spirit Writing competition invites deaf and hard-of-hearing students in grades 10-11 (as of spring 2025) to unleash their creativity. Participants are invited to craft a writing piece of up to 2,000 words centered around the theme of the competition. Whether it's a fictional tale, a research paper, an autobiography, or any captivating topic, the options are limitless!

Registration for the Spirit Writing competition begins on October 15, 2024, and submissions are accepted until March 15, 2025. Winners can choose between an all-expenses paid summer program experience or a $500 cash prize!

Teachers are strongly encouraged to motivate their students to participate and incorporate our competition into their curriculum. Each student may select one theme for their submission, so start drafting your masterpiece and prepare to shine in the Spirit Writing competition!

The competition theme will be released by October 15, 2024.

Rules and Eligibility

Am I eligible?

To be eligible for the Spirit Writing Competition, students must:

  • Be deaf or hard-of-hearing
  • Be enrolled in 10th or 11th grade as of spring 2025
  • Have a parent’s or guardian’s permission to participate.
  • Have a teacher’s recommendation.
  • Submit a copy of their high school transcript.
  • Sign a statement that their work is original and no copyrighted materials are used in their submission.
  • Have appropriate permission forms, if required by their school district.

When writing your project, review which topic you want to write about. Your project must be under 2,000 words, so choose carefully!

What do I need to do?

  • Register using this entry form
  • Submit your application package, which must include ALL of the following, to a Google Drive:
    • A copy of your entry form
    • A copy of your high school transcript
    • A letter of recommendation from your teacher
    • Your written work
    • When submitting your documents to Google Drive, be sure to enable “anyone with the link can view” so our judges can see all your work
  • Send your application package to:
    • Rochester Institute of Technology
      Spirit Writing Contest
      52 Lomb Memorial Dr
      Rochester, NY 14623
                 OR
    • Email to: writingcontest@rit.edu

Enter your best work today! The deadline for submitting all materials is March 15, 2025

If you have any questions or concerns, contact us:
Voice: 585-475-7695 • Videophone: 585-286-4555 • Email: writingcontest@rit.edu

Judging Criteria

  • The panel of judges reserves the right to disqualify any project due to poor quality, incompleteness, poor taste, inappropriateness of content, or concerns regarding copyright infringement in the original work.
  • The written work must be in compliance with the entry guidelines.
  • The written work must be compatible with one of the identified categories. NTID reserves the right to reject or move an entry to another category as it deems appropriate.
  • Projects will be judged using the following criteria: uniqueness/originality, structure of writing, cohesiveness, syntax, and vocabulary.

Prizes

There will be up to four winners—two 10th graders and two 11th graders. The entries for the competition will be evaluated after March 15, 2025 and the winners will be selected and announced.

Winners will receive a plaque commending their work and a choice between an all-expenses paid trip to one of our summer programs or a $500 cash prize!

If you want to discover our summer program options, visit our main page:

NTID Youth Programs
a Hispanic student participating in a virtual writing contest from home, with writing tools and inspiration boards

History of Spirit Writing

Formerly the National Dalgarno Essay Contest
The Spirit Writing Contest owes its existence to an earlier writing competition sponsored at RIT/NTID entitled the National Dalgarno Essay Contest. This competition was established and personally sponsored for ten years by the late Professor Emeritus Edward Scouten, and his wife Eleanor, who shared a passion for English literacy and the education of deaf and hard-of-hearing students.

Professor and Mrs. Scouten originally named the essay contest after George Dalgarno, a Scottish school teacher and the inventor of the first sign language alphabet. In 1680, Dalgarno published a book in which he presented many theories about the different ways to teach language to people who were deaf. Among those theories was Dalgarno’s firm belief that deaf children could learn to understand and use written English if given the opportunity. Mr. Scouten, in his many years of teaching English at NTID, based much of his philosophy of teaching on Dalgarno’s original theories of the relationship between English, language and deafness.

SCOUTEN ENDOWED INTERNSHIP IN ENGLISH LITERACY
Established in 2004, this endowment provides support for an internship with the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, a college of the Rochester Institute of Technology. The purpose of the internship is to provide mentoring in best teaching practices to promote English literacy. Learn more about the Scouten Endowed Internship in English Literacy.

Contact Us

For more information or questions about prizes, contact us at writingcontest@rit.edu.

To submit your application package or materials for the competition, please mail to:

RIT/NTID Spirit Writing Contest
NTID Outreach & Special Projects
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
52 Lomb Memorial Drive
Rochester, New York 14623-5604