Overture Award Essay Contest Winner Announced

The Cincinnati Arts Association (CAA) has announced Jacob Mackie as the winner of its Overture Awards Essay Contest 2010: "Back in Time to Over-the-Rhine," presented in conjunction with the German-American Citizen's League of Greater Cincinnati (www.gacl.org). Jacob, chosen by six judges who are professional writers/historians/teachers, was awarded a $250 prize for his essay, "Renewal."

For the contest, twenty-four students submitted essays on the subject of immigration in the 1870s, from the perspective of a young person their own age who has immigrated from Germany to Cincinnati. Students were instructed to include details such as:

how these people traveled from Germany to Ohio (steamship, railroad, etc.)
where they lived in the city and what their house/apartment was like
information about their schools
stores, restaurants and entertainment (e.g. Findlay Market, singing societies, etc.)
what their parents did for a living
information about Music Hall as it was at that time

All Tri-state students in grades 6-9 for the 2009-2010 school year were eligible for the contest.

Jacob Mackie is currently a sixth grader at Campbell County Middle School. Even though he won the essay contest, Jacob feels that his best strength is math. However, he continues to write for fun, because people enjoy reading what he creates. As an only child, Jacob likes to spend his free time outside riding his bike, playing on the computer, or just hanging out with his friends, and he is involved in CCMS's band and basketball programs. Every summer, he looks forward to going to Kings Island with his parents Angela and Steven.

"I am excited about winning the Overture Awards essay contest," said Jacob, "and I will use this award to help build my confidence in my creative ability."

"This was the first year for this contest, and we are very pleased with its success," said Carolyn Phillips, Education Program Manager, Cincinnati Arts Association. "We're already planning a topic for next year! Jacob did a fine job on his essay, and we are very proud of him."

Essay submissions were judged on the following criteria:
Originality: the essay topic is approached with creativity and imagination.
Quality of content: the essay is presented clearly and its material is well organized, well developed and accurate.
Style: the essay has a clear structure with a title, introduction, body and conclusion. Paragraphs are used correctly, and punctuation, spelling and grammar are correct.
Footnotes were not required, but a bibliography was highly recommended.

To read Jacob's essay, "Renewal," visit
http://www.cincinnatiarts.org/files/uploaded/Mackie_essay.pdf

ABOUT THE OVERTURE AWARDS
The Overture Awards Scholarship Competition - the largest locally run arts scholarship competition in the country. The Overture Awards annually provides a $2,500 scholarship to six area high school students for education and training expenses, with 18 finalists each winning a $500 scholarship. Each year, nearly 500 students are nominated by their schools to compete in one of six artistic disciplines: Creative Writing, Dance, Instrumental Music, Theater, Visual Art or Vocal Music. The Overture Awards was developed to recognize, encourage and reward excellence in the arts among Tri-state students in grades 9-12. It also provides students an opportunity to share their talents and interests among their peers in a supportive environment outside of their individual schools.

Now in its 14th year, The Overture Awards was launched in 1996 by the Cinergy Foundation (now Duke Energy) and Leadership Cincinnati (a Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce program). The program is administered by the Cincinnati Arts Association, which operates and manages the Aronoff Center and Music Hall. The Overture Awards also relies on hundreds of volunteers from the community who help raise funds, adjudicate and manage the competitions, and nurture the program.

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