McGraw-Hill Education Challenges Students to Enter the Presidential Debate Through New Essay Contest

NEW YORK, Oct. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- With the presidential election one month away, McGraw-Hill Education, publisher of McGraw-Hill networks, the award-winning social studies learning system, is asking middle and high school students to engage in this important civic process through the "Enter the Debate" contest. Open to students in Grades 6-12, the contest calls for teachers to assign student to write an essay suggesting a potential debate question for President Obama and Governor Romney and have students explain why the question is important to our nation. This encourages students to examine the critical and hotly debated social, economic and political issues surrounding the election. Now through Nov. 2, teachers can submit student responses for a chance to win $10,000 in classroom grants.

To "enter the debate," teachers can go to the contest website to submit student essays, which must be 250 words or less and written by individual students in grades 6-12. All eligible entries will be scored by a panel of judges, who will select six finalists based on the essay's persuasiveness, quality of content and English usage and mechanics. The winning student essay will receive a $5,000 classroom grant, given to the student's school. The schools of the remaining five finalists will each receive $1,000.

"Presidential elections not only represent a momentous time for Americans, but also serve as unique teaching and learning moments for teachers and students," said CarolAnn Shindelar, vice president of the Center for Literacy and the Humanities at McGraw-Hill School Education. "Civic engagement is critically important to our nation's future, and that engagement begins with an understanding of our democratic society and current events. We're thrilled to deliver this contest as a creative homework assignment that teachers can use to get their students excited about, and connected to, the presidential election and think critically about the issues. We look forward to hearing what topics are on the minds of today's students."

Selection of the finalists will take place in early December, and winners will be announced around the time of the Presidential Inauguration in January 2013.

Launched in 2011, McGraw-Hill networks is an award-winning social studies learning system for middle and high school students that combines engaging print and digital resources to help students discover and learn essential social studies content.  The program can be personalized and customized for each student to support differentiated instruction, and transforms social studies instruction and learning into an exciting and interactive experience. Teachers can find additional social studies resources and follow the election by visiting Election Central at http://blog.glencoe.com/election/.

For more information about the contest, rules and guidelines, prizes and entry information, please visit http://www.NetworksEnterTheDebate.com.

About McGraw-Hill Education
McGraw-Hill Education is a content, software and services-based education company that draws on its more than 100 years of educational expertise to offer solutions, which improve learning outcomes around the world. McGraw-Hill is the adaptive education technology leader with the vision for creating a highly personalized learning experience that prepares students of all ages for the world that awaits. The company has offices across North America, India, China, Europe, the Middle East and South America, and makes its learning solutions available in more than 65 languages. For additional information, visit www.mheducation.com.

Contact:
Brian Belardi
McGraw-Hill Education
(212) 904-4827
[email protected]

SOURCE McGraw-Hill Education