Scholastic Contest GETS EXTRA StIMULUS
FROM Colorado Bar Association, Others

Governor Ritter’s Lincoln Bicentennial Commission is sponsoring a Scholastic Contest that invites Colorado students of all ages to imagine Lincoln as their model. Competitions will take place, and awards made, in the seven congressional districts of the state.

The Commission is pleased to announce that the Colorado Bar Association has agreed to sponsor the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Contest. The Contest will recognize elementary, middle school, high school, and college students throughout Colorado on essays, creative writing, poetry, and visual arts inspired by Abraham Lincoln. With the support of the Colorado Bar Association, EthicsGame, and many individual contributors, the students participating in the Contest will be eligible for nearly $10,000 in cash awards and prizes. In light of this outstanding support and in order to get as many students as possible participating in the contest, the Bicentennial Commission has extended the deadline for submissions to April 17, 2009.

The objective of this competition is to encourage today’s youth to discover the importance of great leaders like Abraham Lincoln. Information regarding the contest including the topics and contest rules can be found here.

Governor Ritter appointed the twenty member Commission in November 2008 to lead Colorado’s efforts to mark the significance of Abraham Lincoln and his presidency for our history. A Commission goal is to heighten awareness of how the West shaped Lincoln and how Lincoln shaped the destiny of Colorado and the West.

Commission Co-Chair Syd Nathans notes, “As a candidate for office in the 1850s, Lincoln drew the line against the expansion of slavery to the West. As President during the Civil War, he held that line. Thanks to his resolve, Colorado, the West, and finally the Nation, became forever free of bondage, the system that blighted life for enslaved and free people alike. As Lincoln said, ‘In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free.’ ”

Commission members come from around Colorado-Grand Junction, Greeley, Alamosa, Fort Garland, Denver, Salida, Monument, and Westminster. Two members of the state legislature are Commission members, Representative Nancy Todd and Senator Ted Harvey. With support from Colorado Humanities and the Colorado History Museum, the Commission is coordinating and publicizing Lincoln activities throughout the state, starting in February and continuing throughout 2009.