GET INVOLVED

Junior Ranger Essay Contest Rules 2009

Eligibility

No purchase is necessary, and there is no fee to enter or to win. The National Park Foundation Junior Ranger Essay Contest is open to all children who are age 9 through 12 at any time during the contest period and who are legal residents of the United States. Employees, officers, and directors (and their immediate family members and members of the same households, whether related or not) of the National Park Foundation, the National Park Service and Unilever are not eligible to participate. Participants must obtain the consent of a parent or legal guardian to enter the contest. Participants and their parents or legal guardians agree to abide by the terms of these official rules and by the decisions of the National Park Foundation, which are final and binding on all matters pertaining to the contest. The National Park Foundation reserves the right to disqualify any participant that it determines, in its sole discretion, is ineligible to participate in the contest. The contest is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations and is void where prohibited by law or regulation.

Essay Requirements

Essays must be solely the work of the participant. Essays must be no longer than 500 words and must be typed or written in legible handwriting. Participants should address the following question in their essay: “Why are our national parks important to you and what is your best idea to protect our parks for the future?”

Submissions

Entries will be accepted between March 16, 2009 and May 1, 2009. The participant’s name, age, grade, and state in which he or she lives must be on the top of the page on which the essay is written or typed. Essays that are missing any of this information will be ineligible for this contest. Proof of submission will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by the National Park Foundation. There are two ways to enter as described below. Regardless of the form of entry, the parent or legal guardian of each participant must confirm that s/he has read, understood, and agrees to these contest rules and that such agreement constitutes acceptance of these contest rules on behalf of his or her child/ward and him or herself. Entries without the necessary consent of a parent or legal guardian will not be considered.

  1. Online: All online submissions at www.nationalparks.org must be received by the National Park Foundation by 11:59 pm EST on May 1, 2009. All submissions must include a parent/legal guardian’s name, phone number, and e-mail address, in lieu of a signature, which will serve as confirmation that the parent/legal guardian has read and understands the rules of the contest and agrees to these contest rules on behalf of his/her child/ward.
  2. By mail: Entries may also be submitted via U.S. mail to the National Park Foundation’s address listed below. To be considered, these essays must be accompanied by a statement signed by the parent or guardian that s/he has read and understands the rules of the contest and agrees to these contest rules on behalf of his/her child/ward. Essays sent by mail must be received by the National Park Foundation by 11:59 pm EST on May 1, 2009 and must include a parent’s or legal guardian’s signature and phone number. Address: Junior Ranger Essay Contest, National Park Foundation, 1201 Eye St. N.W., Suite 550-B, Washington, D.C. 20005.

Lost, late, illegible, stolen, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible, misdirected, technically corrupted, or garbled entries will be disqualified. Any fraudulent information provided by participants will lead to immediate disqualification from the contest.

All essays will become the property of the National Park Foundation upon submission and will not be returned. By accepting a prize, participants and their parents/guardians grant to the National Park Foundation the right to reproduce, edit, publish, copy, display and distribute all winning essays in National Park Foundation publications, as well as to post such essays and excerpts from them on the National Park Foundation web site, and to use winning essays for other purposes if determined by the National Park Foundation that such use would advance its mission.

Children’s Privacy Policy

The personal information collected from participants will be used and disclosed by the National Park Foundation only for the purpose of selecting the winners. Personal information is provided by participants who choose to enter the contest, with the consent of their parents/guardians and will not be used or disclosed to any other entity for marketing or other purposes. No information about a winner will be used for any publicity or promotional purposes in regards to the contest without the specific permission of the parent or legal guardian. A parent or legal guardian has the right to review, change, and/or delete the participant’s personal information by contacting the National Park Foundation at the address below, and to refuse to permit the National Park Foundation’s future collection, use, or disclosure of the participant’s information. However, acceptance of a prize constitutes the permission of the winner and his/her parent or legal guardian for the National Park Foundation to use his/her name, state, age, essay, and/or any statements made by each winner regarding this contest for advertising and promotional purposes without notice or additional compensation, except where prohibited by law. If you have questions about or need to contact us regarding how data is collected and managed, please contact us at: National Park Foundation, 1201 Eye Street N.W., Suite 550B, Washington, D.C. 20005 OR via email at essaycontest@nationalparks.org OR via phone at 202.354.6460.

Parents and guardians may choose to remove children’s information from our contest database at anytime by contacting essaycontest@nationalparks.org.

Judging Criteria

Winners will be selected by a panel of judges on or about May 6, 2009. All essays will be judged according to the criteria listed below.

  1. Understanding of the issue
  2. Originality
  3. Clarity and effectiveness of style and organization
  4. Adherence to format and length rules

Awards

All prizes are non-transferable, and no cash or other substitutions are allowed except by the National Park Foundation. Arrangements for the fulfillment of all prizes will be made by the National Park Foundation in conjunction with Unilever. Winning essays will be published online and in National Park Foundation publications. Additionally, winning essays will be featured in the Junior Ranger Gazette. The essays may be used for other purposes if determined by the National Park Foundation that such use would advance its mission.

The first place winner will receive a Visa gift card valued at $1,000 and one America the Beautiful – National Parks and Federal Recreation Lands Pass. Approximate retail value (“ARV”) of first prize: $1,080. The second place winner will receive a Visa gift card valued at $500 and one America the Beautiful – National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass. ARV: $580. The third place winner will receive a Visa gift card valued at $250 and one America the Beautiful – National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass. ARV: $330. All other expenses, including taxes (if any), on receipt and use of prizes are the sole responsibility of the winners.

The first place winner will choose a unit of the National Park System as the beneficiary of a $5,000 contribution from the National Park Foundation. The second place winner will choose a unit of the National Park System as the beneficiary of a $2,000 contribution from the National Park Foundation. The third place winner will choose a unit of the National Park System as the beneficiary of a $1,000 contribution from the National Park Foundation. The National Park Foundation will work with the three winners to ensure that three separate park units receive contributions. Contributions will be sent to selected park units on or before July 1, 2009.

Notification

Winners will be notified by e-mail or telephone beginning May 8, 2009. If the winner cannot be contacted within 5 calendar days of first notification attempt, any prize or prize notification is returned as undeliverable or the winner or the winner’s parent or legal guardian rejects his/her prize or if consent from the winner’s parent or guardian is withdrawn, an alternate winner will be selected by the National Park Foundation. Upon prize forfeiture, no payment or other compensation will be made to the original winner.

Each winner and his/her parent/guardian will be required to execute an affidavit of eligibility and release. The affidavit and release must be returned within five (5) calendar days of notification or an alternate winner may be selected. Also, because the approximate retail value of the first prize exceeds $600, the winner of the first prize must provide a Social Security Number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number to the National Park Foundation for issuance of a 1099 Form.

Conditions

Compliance with applicable federal, state, and local taxes is the sole responsibility of the parent/legal guardian of the winner. By entering, participants and winners and their parents and guardians agree to release Unilever, the National Park Foundation and the National Park Service and their respective employees, officers, and directors, from any and all liability for loss, harm, damage, injury, cost, or expense whatsoever, including without limitation, property damage, personal injury, and/or death, which may occur in connection with participation in this contest or any contest-related activity, or acceptance and/or use or misuse of a prize and for any claims based on publicity rights, defamation, or invasion of privacy. The National Park Foundation is not responsible if a prize cannot be awarded due to delays or interruptions due to acts of war, natural disasters, weather, acts of terrorism or other any event reasonably outside its control. Participants who do not comply with these contest rules, or who attempt to interfere with this contest in any way, shall be disqualified. There is no purchase or entry fee required to participate.

Limitation of Liability

If for any reason the contest is not capable of running as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or if any other causes corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of the contest, the National Park Foundation reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the contest, as well as to disqualify any individual who tampers with the contest. The National Park Foundation assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft, or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, entries. The National Park Foundation is not responsible for problems or technical malfunctions of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers, or providers’ computer equipment, software, failure of any e-mail to be received by the National Park Foundation on account of technical problems, or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to participant’s or any other person’s computer related to or resulting from participation or downloading any materials in this contest.

Dispute

Any dispute arising out of this contest will be determined according to the laws of the District of Columbia, without reference to its conflict of law principles.

Winners List

For names of winners, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to National Park Foundation, Junior Ranger Essay Contest, 1201 Eye Street N.W., Suite 550-B, Washington, D.C. 20005 after May 20, 2009.

Stay connected with GoParks®!

Sign Up Now »View a sample e-newsletter »

Stories and Profiles

The National Park Transportation Scholar Program promotes sustainable transportation solutions that help preserve park resources and enhance … Continue »