Rotarians are Invited to Serve as Volunteer Essay Readers and Judges for Rotary’s Georgia Laws of Life High School Essay Contest

Service Projects

Like to read? Need meeting make-up credit? Then volunteer to read and judge essays submitted to Rotary’s Georgia Laws of Life Essay Contest, the largest character values and ethical literacy essay contest in North America. Nearly 40,000 high schools students write a short (500 – 700 word) values-based essay each year. You will be reading the top essays submitted by Georgia high schools, and helping select the 150+ school winners who will receive recognition and cash prizes.

The essays provide an eye-opening glimpse into the hopes, struggles and everyday lives of teenagers in our community. Serving as a Rotarian reader and judge is an excellent way to see how core values – such as those contained in Rotary’s Four-Way Test – are experienced by a younger generation.

There are two ways to volunteer:

  1. Essay reading sessions will be at the home ofSusan Mason, a Rotarian and the contest director. The required commitment for a meeting make-up credit is to read for at least 2 hours, on the following dates:
  • Monday, Feb. 16(10 AM to 5:00 PM)
  • Wednesday, Feb. 18 (9 AM to 5:00 PM)
  • Wednesday, Feb. 19 (Noon to 5:00 PM)
  • Tuesday, Feb. 24 (10 AM to 6 PM)
  • Wednesday, Feb. 25 (9 AM to 5 PM)

To sign up for a time slot to read essays, contact Susan (georgialawsoflife@gmail.com; 404.367.9453). Location: 840 Woodley Drive, Atlanta, GA 30318, near Atlanta Memorial Park and Bobby Jones Golf Course. Rotarian spouses and friends are also welcome.

For additional information on Rotary’s Laws of Life Essay Contest, to watch a 4-minute contest video, or to read last year’s winning essays, visit the contest website at www.georgialawsoflife.org.

  1. Want to participate but can’t make these dates above?  We also need two to fivesemi-finalist judges, who will help select the top statewide winners. These judges will receive approximately 15 essays via email on or about March 6, and will have 5 days to read the essays and return their rankings. Most semi-finalist judges take 2 to 3 hours ofat-home reading to complete the assignment.  Please reply to Teresa Raetz at mailto:tkraetz@gmail.com if you would like to volunteer as a semi-finalist judge during the week of March 6.