The Meaning of Home Contest is BACK!
The Meaning of Home contest is back for its 16th year on January 8 and teacher sign-ups are now open! The contest invites students in grades 4, 5, and 6 to submit a poem or essay explaining what home means to them.
The Meaning of Home contest, in support of Habitat for Humanity, is a great opportunity for students to learn about giving back to their community and the importance of having a safe home while improving their creative writing skills and raising money for their local Habitat organization.
The Meaning of Home contest is an activity that students will see as meaningful. It will challenge them to think creatively about a topic that directly impacts their lives—the meaning of home—and ultimately improve their writing skills.
Each submission entered in the contest provides your local Habitat with a $10 donation from Sagen™, the sponsor of the contest – this directly helps a low-income family in your community! Three grand prize winners, who will receive $30,000 for their local Habitat, and 9 runner-up winners, who will receive $10,000 for their local Habitat, will also receive prizes for themselves and their class thanks to our generous contest sponsors.
Last year, Habitat for Humanity Peterborough & Kawartha Region had the exciting opportunity to celebrate local runner-up winner Ellyot W., from Grade 6, St. Catherine Catholic Elementary School in Peterborough. Ellyot’s winning entry ‘What Home Means To Me‘ received a $10,000 grant for Habitat PKR that supported the construction of our Phase 2 Project of 12 Affordable Condo Units in the City of Peterborough! Ellyot also received a tablet, a pizza party for her and her classmates and the opportunity to read her winning entry at our Phase 2 Build Kick-Off in front of public officials, media, future habitat homeowners and other attendees. You can read all about Ellyot’s win here and how she was celebrated here. By entering the Meaning of Home contest, your students too could be winners and recognized for their writing skills and commitment to our local community!
We’ve created an education module to help teachers prepare their students for writing their entries through fun activities and lesson plans. This module can help you meet curriculum criteria in the area of Language Arts. Some of the curriculum requirements that can be addressed through the Meaning of Home contest include:
• Producing an original piece of work that encourages independent critical thought
• Organizing ideas and writing for an intended purpose or audience
• Writing to express thinking and communicate personal opinions
• Developing proper grammar, spelling and punctuation
• Fostering proofreading, editing and revision skills
The contest runs from January 8, 2024 to February 23, 2024
Learn more or register at www.meaningofhome.ca