Get Ready to Enter the 2006 Readers as Writers Contest 

Do you love to write? Do you have a story to tell? The Key Newspaper is announcing its annual Readers as Writers Contest, and we want you to participate.

You qualify if you are an adult student enrolled in a Wisconsin Basic Skills, GED/HSED, Adult High School, or English as a Second Language class or adult tutoring program, including education programs at Wisconsin correctional institutions.

You may submit an essay, poem, short story, opinion, rap, song lyric, or journal entry. Your entry can be a writing assignment chosen by your instructor or,you may choose the one to submit. Write about something in your past, your home country, an experience that changed your life, or a tribute to someone you love. If you prefer, write your opinion about world events, voting, or becoming a citizen.

You may submit up to two entries, but each entry must be in a different writing category. If you can use a computer, or if your teacher or tutor can help, please submit your entry on a diskette or as an email attachment (balistrv@matc.edu).

Each entry may be no more than two typewritten pages.

Print your name, home address and phone number, literacy program and location, and the name of your instructor clearly at the top of each page. We ask that teachers or tutors send us the entries and review and approve the work beforehand.

Must be appropriate for family reading

The work must be original and appropriate for a family publication. We will not accept work that includes profanity, sexual themes, or that glorifies violence or illegal activity.

The deadline for all entries is March 13, 2006. Winning compositions will be published in a book of the best entries selected by a panel of independent judges.

Students and their instructors will receive recognition for their efforts at an awards ceremony at the Milwaukee Public Library on May 3 or at Northcentral Technical College in Wausau. Northcentral Technical College is hosting an event for students and teachers who are in the northern part of the state. The date will be announced later.

Start planning now. Entry forms and other details about the contest will be sent to your instructors by mail. Check with your instructor or tutor for more information.

The Key Newspaper, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Journal Communications, Inc., the Wisconsin Technical College System Board, the Milwaukee Public Library, and Northcentral Technical College sponsor the Readers as Writers Contest.