Texas SAR C.A.R. Essay Contest
Printable copy
Deadline for application to local SAR Chapter ~ December 31st (postmarked).
(SAR Chapters need to submit winner to SAR Scholarship Chairman by February 1.)
Compatriot Joe Sogan
Chairman, Texas SAR C.A.R. Scholarship Contest
e-mail: car@texassar.org
ESSAY TOPIC: “The Committee of Five"
Purpose: Assist five (5) Texas Society Children of the American Revolution (T.S.C.A.R.) members with college scholarships.
Program: TEXAS SAR provides these scholarships to help defray costs for books, tuition, room, and board while attending an accredited college or university. Scholarship winners will receive a letter of instructions from the Treasurer of the TEXAS SAR.
Eligibility: Contestants must be a T.S.C.A.R. member in good standing for two (2) years or more, enrolled in an accredited high school (or equivalent program, including home school) as a sophomore, junior, senior student; or enrolled in an accredited college or university as a freshman student. There is a four-year window of eligibility to compete in the Texas SAR C.A.R. Scholarship Contest. Contestants can submit applications and enter the contest each year, as long as they meet eligibility criteria
Application: Eligible T.S.C.A.R. members are encouraged to complete the Scholarship Contest application found in the annually published T.S.C.A.R. Yearbook, on the T.S.C.A.R. website (tscar.net), or on the TEXAS SAR website (click here). The application, essay, parent’s permission form (found on SAR website) and a letter of support shall be submitted to a TEXAS SAR Chapter. The entry must be submitted no later than December 31st. If mailed, it should be post marked no later than December 31st. If emailed, sent no later than December 31st. Note that the applicants’ Social Security number may be requested for a monetary award.
Letter of Support: Applicant must submit a letter of support from either of the following: Teacher or an Adult leader of an organization in which the applicant has taken an active part. Family members are ineligible to provide a recommendation letter.
Process: Send completed application, letter of support, essay, and parent’s permission to a local TEXAS SAR Chapter, Attention: C.A.R. Liaison Officer or Chapter President. The receiving Chapter reviews all entries and selects a Chapter winner. The sponsoring Chapter will send by February 1st the selected Chapter winner to the Chairman of the Texas SAR C.A.R. Scholarship Contest for competition at the Texas SAR State level. The other submitted applications will then be offered to nearby Chapter(s) to evaluate and select a winner. This procedure provides more opportunities for an applicant to be selected as a Chapter winner, giving the applicants more chances to achieve an award, certificate and/or monetary awards. ALL applicants will be entered into the State Level Competition.
Essay: The TEXAS SAR C.A.R. Scholarship Contest calls for an essay on a pre-designated topic (listed at the beginning as Essay Topic) that deals with an event, person, philosophy, or ideal associated with the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence, or the framing of the United States Constitution. Students must source at least five references with the minimum of three being published works to allow for verification of sources if necessary. References from encyclopedias or the Internet will be accepted, but are not considered as part of the three published book sources. If there are no published references, the essay will be disqualified.
The essay must have three parts: A.) title page, B.) essay pages, and C.) bibliography or works cited. The title page and bibliography must be listed on separate pages and no reference to the applicant's name or information can be part of the essay pages or bibliography.
- The title or cover page must include the title of the essay, applicant's name, applicant’s school grade level, home address, telephone number, and email address. In addition, the title page must include the name, address, and telephone number of the high school in which the applicant is enrolled, the applicant's grade level, and a statement of how the applicant learned of the contest. If the entrant learned of the Contest through the Internet, include the URL of the website. This page is separated from the essay for judging purposes.
- The essay must have a minimum of 800 words and not exceed 1,200 words (excluding the title page, footnotes, bibliography page, and biography page). Word counts based on a word processor are acceptable. All contest entries must be submitted as PDF files attached to emails. Contest entries submitted in any other format will be disqualified. The first page of the essay must include the title of the essay. No applicant information of any kind must appear on these pages as the essays are separated and distributed to the judges for grading to prevent possible grading bias. The essay must be typed in 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, and with 1-inch margins on all sides. The essay’s pages, which shall include the bibliography page, must be sequentially numbered beginning with the first page of the essay as page 1. No contestant information may appear on the pages of the essay or bibliography. Graphics are not permitted. Contest entries that do not conform exactly to these requirements will be disqualified. Plagiarism will be grounds for immediate disqualification.
- Citations in the essay and references in the bibliography must be documented in accordance with a widely used and publicly available citation system. Examples of a citation system include the Chicago Manual of Style, the MLA Manual of Style, the MHRA Style Guide, The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, and “Harvard referencing.” The bibliography page must specify the system used. No contestant information may appear on the bibliography page(s).
Essays which meet the criteria above will be accepted and judged equally on the following criteria:
A.) Historical accuracy
B.) Clarity of thought
C.) Organization and proven topic
D.) Grammar and spelling
E.) Documentation
Awards: The awards for the SAR C.A.R. Scholarship Contest at the State level are $3,500.00, $750.00, $500.00, $300.00 and $150.00 respectively for first through fifth place winners. Funding for the state level awards is determined by the TEXAS SAR Patriots Fund Projects Committee during the Annual TEXAS SAR State Convention preceding the contest year.
Essays are judged by SAR members and the majority vote of the Judges will be final.
State level Scholarship winners will be announced at the T.S.C.A.R. State Conference typically held in March and recognized at the TEXAS SAR State Convention in April.
SPECIAL NOTE: The essay portion of this scholarship contest corresponds with the SAR Knight Essay Contest. Therefore, the essay can be used for both contests, since both contests have different committees and contest requirements. Please follow directions for each contest and SUBMIT SEPARATELY to both contests.
The TEXAS SAR C.A.R. Scholarship Contest State Level 1st Place Winner will be invited to the TEXAS SAR State Convention with Travel Expenses (hotel, meals for winner and one adult guest, and mileage) paid for in accordance with the Travel provisions shown on the TEXAS SAR web site.
SAR CHAPTER DIRECTIONS:
- Texas SAR Sponsoring Chapter receives entries by December 31.
- The chapter will judge entries and select a Winner to represent the Chapter in the State level competition.
- All other applications received will be offered to nearby Chapter(s) for their evaluation and selection of a winner.
- A Chapter representative will contact the winning applicant and give an invitation to a Chapter meeting to be recognized.
- The Chapter representative then submits their winning entry to the Chairman of the TEXAS SAR C.A.R. Scholarship Contest no later than February 1.