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Academic contests motivate kids
What can make academics fun for students? Contests can.       It sure isn't fun when the teacher announces "Test on Friday." But what happens if the teacher  announces that the class could win a trip to Space Camp? Now we're talking enthusiasm.       Unfortunately, most students don't know what they're missing. A kid searching for academic  contests must cross an information gap that could swallow the Library of Congress.       One year a contest that offers a $58,000 college scholarship got exactly one entry. Yes, that
student did win the prize.       Why aren't contests better known? Most are announced only  by a poster at school. That rules out the growing number of  homeschoolers right off the bat. And maybe the principal or  counselor never posted the announcement. Or the first  interested kid stuffed the poster in his back pack. Or the poster  went unnoticed amidst the bulletin board clutter.       So Scott Pendleton, an award-winning journalist, wrote   The Ultimate Guide to Student Contests, Grades 7-12 (Walker  and Company, 374 pages). His research found so many
contests for younger kids that he also wrote The Ultimate Guide to Student Contests, Grades K-6  (Walker and Company, 184 pages).       The books list hundreds of contests on art, essays, fiction, poetry, foreign languages,  mathematics, science, computers, film-making, photography, geography, history, and more.       They also gives details about academic talent searches, honor societies, academics-related  membership organizations, standardized tests, and recognition awards.       "Almost every contest organizer complains of low participation," Mr. Pendleton says. "Several just  gave up and quit offering some really exciting contests." One was a science contest that would have  let the winners meet with the Nobel Laureate of their choice.       Or what about the most famous contest in the country - the National Spelling Bee? Don't expect a  winner from Seattle or Austin. Those are the only U.S. cities that don't participate. "The problem isn't  lack of interest, but lack of awareness," Mr. Pendleton says.

For an author interview, E-mail      Scott Pendleton.

The Ultimate Guide to Student Contests gives  students the full menu from which to choose. The  books even includes samples of winning art and  writing. "If you see that and think 'Hey, I could do that,'  then you've gotten the message," the author tells  students. "Now show us!"