Every short story should be titled, “Electric Cooperatives — Building a Brighter Tennessee.”

Write a short story explaining how electric co-ops are “Building a Brighter Tennessee” through investments in energy, education, broadband, economic development and more. 

Submissions must not exceed 900 words, including articles ("a," "an" and "the"). The exact word count must be included on your cover page.

Short stories must be type-written and double-spaced.

Your teacher will give you the deadline for turning it in to him/her. He/she will grade the stories and return the best 4-5 to the students who wrote them to make corrections. These top stories from each high school will be turned in to SVEC without names for judging. After being judged by a panel of judges, the co-op will contact the teacher to identify the winners.

A first, second and third place winner will be named from each school. The first place winner will receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. June 14-20, 2019, as a participant in the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association's Washington Youth Tour. The second and third place winners will each receive a $50 cash prize.

One story will be selected from the seven first-place stories to be entered in the state-wide contest. The awards at the state level are college scholarships - $3000 for 1st, $2000 for 2nd and $1000 for 3rd. Delegates who stay engaged and active with their local co-op in the year following the Youth Tour have a chance to win a $10,000 scholarship to the college or trade school of their choice.

Getting Started

Be creative in your writing, utilizing the information in the booklet you received from your English teacher and your own distinctive voice. Write concisely, making each word or phrase work to support your theme. Establish this theme early and refer back to it throughout your story. As always, use correct grammar. Your writing will be judged on the three factors below.

1) Appropriate treatment of the theme and knowledge of the subject: 50%

To gain full credit in this category, you'll have to effectively weave the information relating to the theme throughout the short story. Judges will see indications of additional research, a grasp of what information is vital to making your story believable and credible and creative ways of presenting that information.

2) Originality: 35%

Use a different, entertaining, effective way of presenting information that will educate the reader and get the writer's points across.

3) Grammar and composition: 15%

Refer to your English textbook to check for correct grammar and composition.