The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office is once again hosting the Say Something Essay Contest for high school students to highlight the importance of speaking up when a peer is distressed or at risk for self-harm.
Submissions are due by 11 p.m. on March 12 for the competition. In collaboration with the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation, it is open to students in ninth through 12th grades. “Essays will be judged on their content, clarity, and grammar, and 15 winners will be announced on March 26,” a release from the sheriff’s office said.
Students who choose to enter will respond to the following prompt: “Have you ever witnessed a peer behaving in a way that concerned you enough to want to ‘say something’ but were afraid or did not know whom to turn to? Were there other times when you did speak up because you perceived someone’s actions could be a danger to themselves or others? Why is it important to say something? Feel free to use examples (without names) about situations that you encountered in school or in your community.”
The authors of 15 selected essays will receive certificates and congratulatory letters, and students will be chosen for first, second, and third place in each grade.
One student out of the 15 winners will be chosen as a Sheriff’s Ambassador for the Day, invited to shadow Sheriff Errol D. Toulon at work. The winning student will meet the police dogs, tour the jail, and enjoy a lunch.
Applicants should include a cover page with first and last name, email address, cellphone number, name of school, and grade level. Competition rules also state that the essays should be typed, and should be a minimum of 500 words and a maximum of 2,000 words. They can be submitted to [email protected].