SC fourth and fifth grade students are invited to write and illustrate a children’s book about our electric cooperatives. Winning entries will be awarded cash prizes as well as an opportunity to get published! This year’s challenge focuses on the theme of Empowering Communities: Electric co-ops then and now.
How to Participate
- Register for the challenge by Friday, November 5, 2021. Entrants will receive a confirmation email and your area’s cooperative contact information will be provided to you after you register for this year’s competition.
- Each registered team (1-4 students) will create an electronic book using the online book creator, StoryJumper. This web-based platform allows students to write and illustrate their stories using laptops, tablets, or other devices.
- Next, teachers should sign up for a free account at StoryJumper and become familiar with the options. StoryJumper is a free platform for teachers and students to write and illustrate books. There are video tutorials and a useful teacher’s guide to help you get started.
- Books may be fiction or nonfiction. Students writing books of fiction are encouraged to collaborate with their classmates, including remotely, to plan the following elements of the story: characters, challenges, motivation, setting, obstacles, setting, climax, and closing.
- Explore and research the history of the electric cooperative movement by contacting your local electric cooperative office. (Your local cooperative contact information will be provided to you by email shortly after registration.) Make sure to write down the contact’s name and the date(s) you communicated to use on the Author’s Summary.
- StoryJumper automatically saves student work – allowing teams of students to work together over an extended period of time.
- When students are finished writing and illustrating their book, they must share it with their designated electric co-op contact. Click on the Share button next to the book on StoryJumper.com. Students younger than 13 years old must ask a parent to Share the book online. Other students may use the option to Share with family and friends and send the resulting link to their local cooperative contact.
- All electronic books must be submitted to the local co-op office by Friday, January 28, 2022.
Follow the links below for rules, instructions and requirements: