Scholarship FAQs

How can I enter the contest?
Who is eligible?
How old do I have to be to enter?
How will work be judged?
How will prize be paid?
What happens to non-winning entries?
Where can I find the complete rules for the contest?
Should my school add a scholarship link to your website?
What else can I do to get the word out about this contest?
If I have a question, who can I contact?

How can I enter the contest?

Online entry is preferred. Please visit www.gallerycollection.com/write-greeting-cards-contest1.htm. The online application must include an original greeting/message to the President of the United States (no more than 250 words) regarding environmental and renewable energy issues. For example: "Why we should use renewable energy?" Please also include the applicant’s first and last name, date of birth, phone number, mailing address, e-mail address, grade level, name of school currently attending and school’s website address. Greetings should be uploaded in .txt, .rtf, .doc, .odt or .pdf format.

You can also enter the contest by mail. All physical entries should be typed/sent as a Word Document and accompanied with an entry form. A printable entry form showing the submission address is available here: Download an Entry Form.

The manner of entry will have no bearing on chances of winning.

Who is eligible?

All eighth grade and high school students enrolled at any time during the latter half of 2008 in an academic program designed to conclude with the awarding of a diploma are welcome to participate in our scholarship competition.

All legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and the District of Columbia, as well as American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico can enter the competion. International students who have a student visa to attend school in the U.S. are considered legal residents and are therefore eligible.

How old do I have to be to enter?

Applicants must be 14-18 years of age at time of entry unless prohibited by law.

How will work be judged?

A panel of objective judges will score all eligible contest entries based on the following criteria:

Overall appeal
Quality of execution
Creativity and Originality
Composition and Grammar
Effectiveness and Relevance of content to furthering environmental and renewable energy goals.
Appropriateness for use as a greeting to the President of the United States

How will prize be paid?

The applicant with the winning entry will receive a summer time choice of a fourteen to twenty day Sail Caribbean Environmental Service Program. Where the winner is a minor, the scholarship will be awarded to the winner’s parent or guardian, as custodian for the winner. Permission of a parent or guardian is a necessity for allowing a minor to claim the prize. The choice of a fourteen to twenty day trip can be postponed to the following summer (2010) if the participant is unable to attend the 2009 choice of a fourteen to twenty day summer program. No substitution or transfer of prizes is permitted. Payment of awards will be contingent upon receipt of verification that the applicant meets all of the eligibility requirements. All scholarships are awarded without regard to race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, age, or national origin.

What happens to non-winning entries?

The top 100 eligible entries will be sent to the President of the United States.

In the event that we do decide to publish a nonwinning entry as a greeting card or otherwise, it is our intention to compensate the student in the usual and customary amount as we would compensate our regular contributing writers. All original greetings including but not limited to digitally uploaded documents and otherwise submitted material will not be returned to the entrant.

Where can I find the complete rules for the contest?

Please click here for the Official Scholarship Rules.

Should my school add a scholarship link to your website?

Yes! By adding a link to our competition, you can get the word out and give every eligible student the opportunity to participate in this inspirational and simple-to-enter contest. Request that a link to this contest appear on your department or school’s website. Please link to www.gallerycollection.com/write-greeting-cards-contest1.htm.

What else can I do to get the word out about this contest?

Communicate to students: Let students know however you can!
Notify other school officials: Tell administrators, teachers, professors, counselors and even parents about this contest.
Provide us with names of other school officials: Tell us who else we can send this information to so that more students hear about the Scholarship Contest (email addresses are preferred).
Add a MySpace, Facebook or blog link: If you have your own blog, MySpace, Facebook page or website, feel free to post a link to our scholarship competition.

If I have a question, who can I contact?

Please feel free to send questions, suggestions or comments to scholarshipadmin@gallerycollection.com. Please include the name of the contest you are inquiring about in the subject line of your email!