The Georgia Laws of Life Essay contest is coming up this winter/spring, with thousands of essays from high school students around the state. Volunteers are needed as Essay Judges for the Georgia Rotary Clubs Laws of Life Essay Contest. As a Contest Sponsor you and your club members are invited to participate in the judging process. The response from schools has been tremendous this year. We expect to reach the number of essays we had in 2019, doubling last year’s numbers! Thus, now more than ever, we need your help. 

The judging process kicks off on February 14, 2022 when essays are due.

• School-level Winners are announced by March 25, 2022.
• State Winners are announced by April 1st.

Using the Submittable online platform, we hope to reach a maximum number of volunteer judges throughout the state. Virtual training sessions will be held prior to judging and first-time volunteers are encouraged to attend.

Please share this information with your club. Volunteers are asked to sign up now by clicking on THIS LINK. Volunteers can serve as School-level Judges, State Judges or both. All volunteers only need to attend one training session.

School Level Judge Training

• Wednesday, February 9, 2022 12:00 - 1:00 PM
• Wednesday, February 9, 2022 5:30 - 6:30 PM

State Judge Training

• Monday, March 21, 2022 12:00 - 1:00PM
• Tuesday, March 22, 2022 12:00 - 1:00PM

For those not able to attend a training session, video training will be made available at a later date.

How the Judging Process Looks

• Round One - School Level Winners
  • Essay Judges will work in teams of 3 (1 Team Lead & 2 volunteers) to read and score up to 48 essays by grade by school via Submittable.
  • Essays will be scored using a rubric tool.
  • Volunteers will have approximately one week to score their assigned essays.
  • Teams will meet once virtually for approximately one hour to discuss their assigned student essays; and at this meeting they will select grade winners, school winners and honorable mentions.

• Round Two - State Finalist selection
  • All School Winners will be considered for State Finalist selection
  • Staff and a limited number of Essay Judges will review and discuss each School Winner to select the 15-18 State Finalists

• Round Three - State Winners
  • State Judges will select the 7 State Winners from 15-18 State Finalists
  • State Judges will read and rank State Finalists essays via Submittable
  • Most finalist judges find that it takes 2 to 3 hours to complete the assignment