Maine State Bar Association Announces 2020 Law Day Contests
Maine students in grades four through 12 are invited to submit entries for this year’s Law Day contests sponsored by the Maine State Bar Association. This year’s theme is “Your Vote, Your Voice, Our Democracy: The 19th Amendment at 100.”
Students in grades 4-8 may participate in the art poster contest and students in grades 9-12 may participate in the essay contest. The entry deadline is April 15.
This year’s theme explores the centennial of the transformative constitutional amendment that guaranteed the right of citizens to vote would not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex. The women’s suffrage movement expanded representative democracy and inspired other popular movements for constitutional change and reform. Reflection on that movement reveals complexity and tensions over race and class that remain part of the ongoing story of the 19th Amendment and its legacies. Entries should reflect the interpretation of the 2020 Law Day theme by responding to this prompt: What impact has the 19th Amendment had on our society, culture, and democracy?
The art poster contest has cash prizes of $50 each for the student and teacher in two grade categories: four to five and six to eight. The essay contest has a $75 first-place cash prize for both the student and teacher and a $50 second-place cash prize for both the student and teacher. Winning essays and posters will be published online and in the Maine Bar Journal.
Law Day was established in 1958 by President Dwight Eisenhower to mark the nation’s commitment to the rule of law. For more information about Law Day or to download the Law Day contest brochures, visit www.mainebar.org > For the Public > Law Day 2020 or https://www.mainebar.org/page/lawday
Grants available from Frances Hollis Brain Foundation Fund
Grants to nonprofit organizations that serve disadvantaged, underserved, and/or vulnerable communities in Maine are available from the Frances Hollis Brain Foundation Fund of the Maine Community Foundation.
The Brain Foundation Fund awards grants to nonprofits that focus on individuals who live in Greater Portland, Lewiston/Auburn, Bath/Brunswick, and Biddeford/Saco/Sanford, or to organizations with a statewide mission in the fund’s focus areas. Grants support early childhood care and education; extended-day learning; community clinics and oral health initiatives; hunger prevention and food security; homelessness alleviation; and legal services connected to these areas.
The application deadline is April 9. Online applications, guidelines and a complete list of 2019 grants are available at www.mainecf.org.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
