Join the competition and initiate a mind blowing article!
Have your say and tell the world what’s on your mind,
speak out - we will listen very attentively !

The  School Pal project, what it does and how to join:

The School Pal project is not so much a competition but an offer to participate; it’s an ongoing invitation to let the world know what you think about it: We welcome contributions of classes from all age groups, all types of schools and all parts of the world and we give them a platform. Write an essay, a story, an advertisement even - we leave it up to you. The only guidelines are:

1.) Content: your writing should inspire a broader view of the world !

Tell the world why you believe that learning languages, geography and history is not a chore but a pleasure. Explain the fun of adopting a global approach. Advertise actively for a look beyond regional boundaries! Entice your readers to widen the angle of their vision, let your imagination go wild - but be honest and true to yourself !!!


2.) Language: The main version of your essay must be in English

However, if English is not your mother tongue it need not be perfect English - just write as good as you can. The important thing is: get the message across!
And: please write in your native tongue too. You can submit versions in as many languages as you want to - there are so many classes with multiple languages spoken within one community. It’s a great bonus to reach as many people as possible, so let your whole class have a go at writing their translations!

3.) Identity: Let it carry your name and be an ambassador of your school !

No anonymous stories please - we’d like to know all about the origins of every story and every individual piece of writing. It is however up to you if you just identify yourself as a class or as all the individuals who participated in coming up with the idea and formed a writing team. If it is your wish we can add mail addresses and/or your URL too. People might want to contact you or find out more about you and the topics you covered.             (try http://sites.google.com for free and easy to handle webspace !)
 

4.) How much should you write ?

Whatever you think is necessary to tell your story. But always remember: the shorter the better! Just think of YouTube and consider what you prefer to watch - a clip of two minutes or a half hour video? Try and reduce your message to the essence, it’s excellent practice for life itself!                                                (here is another brief and to-the-point bit of good advice !)

What happens to your text, your essay, your idea ?

By submitting your work to judgement by our jury you agree to allow ParentalPal.Org to publish it in your name. The copyrights will always remain with you. Publication will take place on YUDU as part of the growing SchoolPal Library and of course in the weblog SchoolPal.Net.
We will see to it that a lot of people get a chance to read it and - more important still - that school classes all over the world read it and use it: both as an inspiration for their own entry and for what it is essentially meant to be - an invitation into the world. An invitation into YOUR world.

How do you proceed from here ?

First you convince your class that you have - either as a part of the team or as the entire community - the brain power and the imagination to put your thoughts to paper in a way others will find inspiring. You convince them of your and their potential !!!  You think about the countless opportunities this world might have in store for you if only you give it a chance. You approach the whole project as something you want to be proud of in years to come - start a variety of discussions, maybe get other classes in your school to tackle this challenge too.
Whenever you feel happy with the result you make sure that you have asked classmates who speak another language to write their personal translation as part of the whole project. Feel welcome to add photographs or other graphics. And then you submit your work using the form we shall mail you the link for once you have registered. You can use either doc or pdf files and send graphics (jpg or gif), if you use pdf please also add the plain text by pasting it into the appropriate field.

Fancy a bit of inspiration to cheer you up before you try ? 
... here we go (some people view this on a regular basis, you’ll see why):

And what’s in it for you ?   Well, we believe, quite a lot. You profit by the process of working on the project.
We are convinced this is your greatest gain of all. But we want to add a few goodies as a reward for your work too:

We are negotiating a very attractive bonus to this ongoing competition. In addition to the prices and rewards we grant, there will be an increasing number of international companies and corporations who really like the idea of talking to next generation leaders and pioneers. So they will be adding their own annual awards in relation to the content and the orientation of your contributions! We shall tell you all about it in summer 2010.

Oh, and two more things you should know: you can submit again year after year, there is always another chance. But beware: the jury will not go easy on your text, our criteria are very tough. If you get it published, you can be really proud of yourself.

When your class has reached a decision to participate we would appreciate you letting us know about your plans by registering. Just fill in and/or edit as you think fit. We are sincerely looking forward to hear from you, no matter where you are !

Please start with the full name and e-mail address of the responsible teacher, tell us the type of school class and their age group and then fill in the full name of the school, address and everything else you consider relevant about the project in regard to your own work. We will get in touch with you within a couple of days. Thanks for participating !
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