The Beacon Award Winner 2008

Watson's Tin Box of Ellicott City MD

The Speckled Band

In 2008, Watson’s Tin Box was in its fourth year of sponsoring a Sherlock Holmes Essay Writing Contest for Seventh Grade Students in Howard County (MD) schools as well as home schooled children in that county. Approximately 1000 students have been reached during this time, and support from teachers, librarians and administrators has been enthusiastic.

The instructions, judging rubric, budget, and other information used in the contest is thorough and professional. Throughout the correspondence, a common respect between the scion and the school and library personnel can be seen. The booklet was developed in a professional fashion with input from teaching and library staff. The members of Watson’s Tin Box are justly proud of their work and the efforts of Andy Solberg, the originator of the project.

Andy has written a narrative account of how the Seventh Grade Essay Contest came to fruition and it is very instructive to anyone contemplating a similar project. Complete with copies of correspondence to all the principals involved and the booklet containing the story, rubric and teaching guides, these PDF files are indeed Recommended Reading.

download (read) PDF documents

7th Grade Essay Contest Narrative	2008 Beacon Award Winner	Download Narrative (PDF / 181 KBytes / 11 pages)
7th Grade Essay Contest Correspondence		Download Correspondence (PDF / 235 KB / 19 pages)
7th Grade Essay Contest Booklet	The Speckled Band	Download Booklet (PDF / 475 KB / 56 pages)

Our outline of how to plan a writing contest is based largely on the work of Andy and Watson's Tin Box, with capable input from the Beacon Winners of 2005 (Myrtle Robinson, Twyla Tuten, and The Hansom Wheels of SC).