Complete the Online Entry Form at the end of this page, upload your essay, and press the Submit button. You will receive an email confirmation upon successful submission.

OR

Mail or hand-deliver your essay and entry form (download the entry form Word or PDF)  by April 9, 2018 to the following address:

Churchill Society of New Orleans
5801 St. Charles Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70115

First prize is $500; Second prize is $300; Third prize is $250. If at least 10 students at a school submit essays and none of them wins the first, second or third prize, the best of those essays will receive a prize of $100. The teacher named by the student who wins the first prize of $500 will also receive a prize of $500. Although the judges reserve the right not to award one or more of the top three prizes, customarily we award all prizes every year.

The movie Dunkirk displays scenes of the enormous evacuation of British and French soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk that took place May 26-June 4, 1940. In his great speech of June 4, 1940, Winston Churchill, newly installed as Prime Minister of Great Britain, included the following words: ” We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations. But there was a victory inside this deliverance…”

The successful evacuation thrilled Churchill and his countrymen. Describe the situation that led to the evacuation, and explain why its success was so important to Churchill and to the world.

1. High school students located in Louisiana or Mississippi are eligible to participate.

2. The essay should address the Topic given above.

3. Essay should be between 500 and 1000 words, typed double spaced.

4. Essays will be judged on knowledge of Churchill, relevance to the Topic, and good use of the English language.

5. A student’s teacher and parents are encouraged to help with the research and to comment on essay drafts, but the student must produce the paper. We ask that the name of the teacher responsible for the student’s participation be provided on the Entry Form.

6. The deadline for submission of this year’s essay is April 9, 2018.

RESEARCHING:
In researching your essay, please read all of the information about Winston Churchill at the Society’s website under the headings “History” and “The Indispensable Man”. To hear Churchill make his speech of June 4, 1940, Google “Winston Churchill on Dunkirk”. A good explanation of the Dunkirk evacuation, including background and consequences, can be found at www.britannica.com/event/Dunkirk-evacuation. For a dramatic presentation of the political situation at the time, you might take in the new movie, Darkest Hour. A wealth of additional information about Churchill is available at www.winstonchurchill.org, the website of the world-wide organization for Churchill fans known as The International Churchill Society.
The Society will be happy to provide to any participating school additional material, including a special issue of “Dig Into History” about Churchill.

If a teacher would like a member of the Board of the Churchill Society to speak to students about Churchill, please call Ted Martin at (504) 582-8152.

TIPS FOR A WINNING ESSAY:

1. Be sure of your facts before you write something that is wrong – like the country in which something took place, or the role that Churchill played.

2. Proofread your essay. Reading it out loud will help you to find mistakes – words left out or misused.

3. Attaching a bibliography to your essay will help the judges understand how you obtained the ideas and information in your essay.

4. Churchill supported himself and his family by writing books, which sold well. He used short words and short phrases to get his points across effectively. Here is an example from one of his speeches:

“Come then, let us to the task, to the battle, to the toil – each to our part, each to our station. Fill the armies, rule the air, pour out the munitions, strangle the U-boats, sweep the mines, plough the land, build the ships, guard the streets, succor the wounded, uplift the downcast and honor the brave.”

5. In your writing, aim for clarity and brevity. Your essay will be short, but it can say a lot if you write carefully and thoughtfully.

6. Try to put forth several points rather than repeating the same one in different ways.