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Physicians for Social Responsibility
Sacramento Chapter

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PSR/Sacramento High School Scholarship Essay Contest

PSR/Sacramento is pleased to announce the opening of our 2023 High School Scholarship Essay Contest.

The contest is open to all high school seniors in Sacramento County and surrounding Northern California counties. A total of at least $15,000 in scholarships will be awarded to 12 winners.

See below for full contest rules and the online entry form.

Essay Topic

  • To enter the 2023 PSR/Sacramento Scholarship Essay Contest, students must submit an original essay of 500 words or fewer describing their thoughts about the following quotation by Jane Goodall, Ph.D.:

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”

Contest Eligibility and Rules

  • Contestants must be high school seniors (or students who entered high school on track to graduate in 2023 but who graduated early) attending school in Sacramento County or in one of the following surrounding counties: Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, San Joaquin, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne, Yolo, or Yuba.
  • Contestants must be in good academic standing.
  • Contestants are encouraged to discuss the essay topic with teachers, parents, friends, and other mentors, but contestants must write the essays themselves in their own words.
  • Contestants who are under the age of 18 must have the consent of a parent or legal guardian to enter the contest.
  • PSR/Sacramento employees and board members and their first and second degree relatives are not eligible to enter the contest.
  • Students must submit their essays and demographic information via the online entry system available on the PSR/Sacramento website at the following URL: https://www.sacpsr.org/index.php/essay-contest/online-entry/.
  • Essays may include a title and/or footnotes, but these elements are not required. (If titles and/or footnotes are included, they do not count toward the 500 word limit.)
  • Only one essay will be considered for any individual student. If a student submits more than one essay, the most recent essay submitted will be the one that is considered.
  • The deadline for students to submit their online essays and demographic information is 11:59 PM on Saturday, March 18, 2023.
  • Late entries will not be accepted unless the delay was caused by a malfunction of the PSR/Sacramento online entry system.

Selection of Scholarship Winners

  • The PSR/Sacramento Steering Committee will establish a panel of PSR members and other qualified individuals in the community to read and rate essays based on accuracy, originality, clarity, cohesiveness, and overall impact.
  • Essay readers will be blinded to student demographic information.
  • The panel will select 10 finalists and two alternate finalists by Monday, April 10, 2023.
  • The 10 finalists and two alternates will be contacted by email and/or telephone on April 10 at the email address and/or telephone number the students provided in their online contest entry forms.
  • An essay contest signature form will be sent via email on April 10 to students chosen as finalists or alternate finalists. The signature form includes the following elements:
  • A statement signed by the contestant documenting that the essay being submitted is the student’s original work
  • A statement signed by a parent or legal guardian if the student is under age 18 confirming that the parent or guardian approves of the student’s participation in the scholarship essay contest
  • A statement by a school official confirming that the contestant is a student in good standing, on track to graduate from the 12th grade in 2023, or that the student entered high school on track to graduate in 2023 but graduated early.
  • An optional section for consent to publicly release the student’s name and/or high school in association with the student’s essay
  • In accepting a scholarship award, students give consent for PSR/Sacramento to publish their essays on the PSR/Sacramento website, but PSR/Sacramento will not publish the student’s name and/or the name of the student’s high school without the consent of the student and, if the student is under age 18, the consent of a parent or guardian.
  • The 10 finalists will be invited to present their essays orally at the essay contest finals luncheon which will be held from 12 noon to 2:30 PM on Sunday, April 30, 2023, in the banquet room of the Hilton Arden West, 2200 Harvard Street, in Sacramento. (Note: If it has been determined by public health officials that it is not safe to hold large public gatherings by April 30, 2023, the essay contest finals event will be conducted online via Zoom or other similar virtual meeting platform.)
  • Finalists must present their essays orally during the April 30 finals event in order to be eligible for scholarship awards.
  • In order to be eligible for a scholarship award, students who are chosen as finalists or alternate finalists must complete and return the signature forms referenced above by Friday, April 21. Students initially chosen as one of the 10 finalists must also confirm by April 21 that they will be participating in the April 30 finals event, or alternate finalists may be invited to participate in their place.
  • A panel of judges selected from the community will listen to the essay presentations at the finals event and will ask one question of each finalist concerning his or her presentation. Finalists will be given up to two and a half minutes to respond to the judges’ questions. Following all presentations and questions, judges will choose the first, second, and third place winners, based on the combined quality of the student’s essays, their oral presentations, and their responses to the judges’ questions.

Scholarship Awards (Total $15,000)

  • First place winner will receive a $3,000 scholarship; second place a $2,500 scholarship; and third place a $2,000 scholarship
  • The other seven contestants participating in the April 30, 2023 finals event will each receive $1,000 scholarships.
  • If all 10 finalists participate in the finals event, the two alternate finalists will both receive $250 scholarships. If a student initially chosen as one of the 10 finalists cannot participate in the finals event and an alternate finalist takes that student’s place, the alternate finalist will instead receive a minimum of a $1,000 scholarship and will also be eligible for the larger first, second, or third place awards.
  • Scholarship awards may be applied toward any post-high school education-related expenses, and the use of the scholarship awards may be deferred for up to two years or until the post-high school educational institution of the student’s choice opens for in person instruction, whichever is longer.
  • If the essay contest finals event is held in person, scholarship checks will be given to students at the event. If the event is held via Zoom or other similar online platform, checks will be mailed to students on the day after the finals event.

Summary of Essay Contest Timeline

  • Deadline for students to enter the contest is 11:59 PM on Saturday, March 18, 2023.
  • The 10 finalists and two alternate finalists will be contacted by email and/or telephone on Monday, April 10, 2023.
  • The deadline for finalists to return completed signature forms and confirm that they will be able to participate in the April 30 essay contest finals event is Friday, April 21, 2023.
  • The essay contest finals luncheon will be held from 12 noon-2:30 PM on Sunday, April 30, 2023.

For additional information or questions, please email essaycontest@sacpsr.org or call (916) 955-6333.

The winning essays in past contests can be accessed via the links below: