Stories change understanding, and understanding can change the world. That is the foundation of Imagining Tomorrow: Alternate Energy Futures, a national writing and video contest about clean energy for high-school students was announced this week.

All entries are due by midnight March 31.

All entries must have energy issues, policies, or technologies as some basis, and must supply a short description of the conceptual starting point, citing relevant references and statistics.

Students have the opportunity to compete in regional or state contests. Winners advance to the national level, with $10,000 committed in cash awards.

A very successful pilot program was run last year in Massachusetts, in partnership with the Northeast Sustainable Energy Society. The winning stories are posted at the national website.

Mary Essary, program director, observed that the stories make for fascinating reading, but equally compelling are the afterwards and information about the students who wrote the stories.

"It is clear that young people are very aware of all aspects of the energy issues that we face," she stated, "and this program gives them an opportunity to become better educated as well as to envision and express the impact the choices that we make today will have on their own future."

Chris Mason, education director at NESEA noted "The creative format of Imagining Tomorrow is very appealing, and also motivates students and teachers to take advantage of the wealth of existing resources offered by various organizations about our energy issues, challenges, and options."

Details about the contest, including guidelines and submission information, are available at the ForeSight Project website.

The website also contains examples of starting points from environmental, political, economic, and technology perspectives and other resources for students and for teachers. Schools and teachers are encouraged to participate and use the contest as a curriculum-related activity, as an assignment, or as an extra-credit or honors project. Students may also submit stories independently.

For more information, visit the Imagining Tomorrow: Alternate Energy Futures webpage.

2/2/2007