<p>oh man, April 23? that's so far from now..</p>
<p>I know! At least it's March now...over half the wait is over.</p>
<p>I am from the NYC region, and I submitted my writing.</p>
<p>I got a packet from Scholastic the Thursday before last, informing me that I had won a gold key award in the short short story category. According to the FAQ paper they included, the national winners will receive packets in the 3rd week of March. That seems kind of soon to me, but then again, this was my first time entering the contest, so I'm still new at this. :]</p>
<p>Ravenink-- if I read your post correctly, NYC people might hear about nationals next week? Kind of nervous...</p>
<p>Hey ravenink, how many words was your short short story?</p>
<p>That's kind of weird...wouldn't they wait to judge the nationals until they finished all of the RAL entries? I'm sure someone from this board entering RAL will win something (and let us know when they do), so it's a pretty sure thing that no one from RAL has heard about regional stuff.</p>
<p>But, ravenink and ac37, don't you have to have won a gold key in regionals to win nationals?
Or does the fact that you got a packet mean that you won regionals but didn't move on to nationals?
So confusing....</p>
<p>is it possible to enter in the art contest and writing contest at the same time?
Because i know you can't enter in photography and jewlery (sicne they're both art) at the same time..</p>
<p>Here is what the FAQ paper said:</p>
<p>"Q: How will I be notified if my work is selected for a National Award?
A: National award winners receive an email notification along with an award notification packet mailed to the students' home addresses. Portfolio Award recipients in art and writing are notified in mid-March with instructions on how to leverage scholarships from the Alliance Scholarship Provider Network. Other recipients are notified during the 3rd week of March. Student notification packets include a final release form and information about the National Awards Celebration in June 2007."</p>
<p>It goes on to explain what you'll have to send in (if you sent in artwork) once you're notified that you're a National winner. </p>
<p>So what I got from all these papers is that now that I am a regional gold key winner, my writing goes on to the national level, and those results should come in this month. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, what I have to do according to a checklist, is verify my information on the Awards Report, sign another copy of the release confirmation, take an online survey (once they send me the link), and RSVP for the regional Awards Ceremony for the NYC region, which will be taking place at Columbia University on May 8th.</p>
<p>My short short story was around 630 words. Short and to the point. :]</p>
<p>sunshineyday -- Yes, you need to be a regional gold key winner in order to go on to the nation level. Once you won a regional gold key, your writing is forwarded to the national level, where all the regional gold keys are judged together.</p>
<p>xolala -- I'm pretty sure you can enter both. I didn't read the guidelines of the art contest, but I know that in the writing contest, you are allowed to make one entry per category. For example, I entered the short story, short short story, and personal essay/memoir categories. I only ended up winning a gold key with the short short story though.</p>
<p>Gold key for poetry and silver for short short story :]</p>
<p>Congratulations! Are you in the NYC region?</p>
<p>When did you get the results? I'm trying to figure out why I'm one of the first to get results..</p>
<p>Yeah, NYC, and a bunch of people I know have already gotten theirs...</p>
<p>Sometime last week, I think?</p>
<p>All you NYC people: If you entered/won something last year, when did you hear about regionals? If NYC was notified a few weeks early, maybe there's hope for us RAL-ers...</p>
<p>It definitely was earlier this year than last year. I remember getting the regional awards about 2 weeks after my birthday last year (read: mid-late March).</p>
<p>ravenink, how did you enter so many? Doesn't yoru school restrict the number of applicants they send in? I thought every school can only send in 11 works...</p>
<p>I'm from Michigan. When can I expect to hear back?</p>
<p>@xolala: There wasn't a limit per school, at least for NYC and Region-at-Large. Other regions that sponsor their own competitions might have had restrictions.</p>
<p>@icypineapple37: It depends if you entered art or writing and if you entered the Region-at-Large or a specific region.</p>
<p>I also entered a story into the competetivition. My story was an epic poem (like the Oddasee) about a little ice cube boy who melts a little everytime he tells a lie. At the end he turns into an actual human boy and does not melt anylonger. My mom liked the story and so did my teacher, they both said it was very original. I also adapted the story into a screenplay and entered that two. Except in the screen play there is a shock ending! I do not want to spoil it for you so you will be suprised when it is made into a movie and you can see it on the big screen.</p>
<p>When will i recieve my award?</p>
<p>Thankyou,
SmartDude07</p>
<p>Oh, SmartDude, you are so smart!</p>
<p>Has ANYBODY heard anything about the short-short-story word limit being changed? I swear to God it was 3,000 when I submitted it, but they changed it to 1,300 afterwards and nobody's responding to my emails about it.</p>