Essay Challenge

A.    PROGRAM BREAKDOWN

The middle schools campaign is comprised of a 10-month inter-borough tour and involves 5 to 7 middle schools.  The selected boroughs include: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan.  The program can take place inside the school gym, cafeteria, or other designated room within the facility.  Each visit will be approximately 1 hour long and detailed as follows:

  1. 20-minute lecture-NMoH will designate a hip-hop celebrity to lecture students on the positive attributes of hip-hop culture and the importance of education
  2. 20-minute student Q & A session-students will have the opportunity to ask the celebrity questions
  3. 20-minute award ceremony-the program will be concluded with award presentations for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners of the essay challenge

B.    STUDENT PARTICIPATION CRITERIA

A noteworthy mandate of the National Museum of Hip-Hop Foundation’s programs for schools involves not only illustrating the importance of education, but also the significance of responsibility and good citizenship.  In the interest of the above, selected students must meet specific criteria in order to become contestants in the “essay challenge” as follows:

  1. Students must have good behavioral standing
  2. Students must complete the application fully
  3. Students must get teacher recommendation (ALL entries must be submitted to English teacher first; each school must recommend top 10 entries to NMoH)

C.    ESSAY TOPIC

Students must chose to write about one of the following two topics: 1) “How has hip-hop influenced your life in a positive way?” or 2) “How have (or will) you use hip-hop to influence a positive improvement within your community?”  Essays will be judged based on the following:

  1. Grammar
  2. Relevance to the topic
  3. Positive significance (level of positive influence)
  4. Credibility/believability
  5. Readability

D.    LECTURERS (subject to change)

NMoH has gathered a proposed list of celebrity hip-hop artists to participate in the Essay Challenge program.  A partial list is as follows:

  1. Common
  2. LL Cool J
  3. Mos Def
  4. DMC
  5. Kanye West
  6. Lupe Fiasco
  7. Marc Ecko
  8. KRS One
  9. Queen Latifah

E.    PRIZES (subject to change)

A good method for motivating adolescents to do their best is positive reinforcement.  Accordingly, the NMoH Foundation will be awarding three contestants from each school with various gifts/prizes to account for their participation in this school activity, superior writing skills and positive contribution to their community.  Prizes are as follows:
1.    3rd place gift pack:

  • Two tickets to a taping of the Wendy Williams show
  • 1 autographed CD (artist TBD)
  • Framed & autographed graffiti art piece by legendary graff artist Marc Ecko

2.    2nd place gift pack:

  • Two front row tickets to upcoming rap concert (artist TBD)
  • Four tickets to a taping of Bet’s 106th & Park show
  • Two autographed CDs (artists TBD)
  • One hour of court time at Madison Square Garden with the NY Knicks

3.    1st place gift pack:

  • Four VIP tickets to an upcoming concert + a meet & greet with performer (artist TBD)
  • Two VIP tickets to the VH1 Hip-Hop Honors ceremony
  • One autographed microphone and poster of hip-hop artist (TBD)
  • Two sideline tickets to NY Giants football game at Giants Stadium (date TBD)
  • Special night out in Times Square including admission for 3 at Madame Tassaud’s and dinner for 3 at BB Kings

All ten contestants from each school receive an NMoH gift bag which includes a T-shirt, baseball cap, pens, pads, and other NMoH paraphernalia.