Students, you have done so much hard work over the school year, and it is time to recognize your accomplishments and increased skills! To celebrate the end of the school year and Indigenous Peoples Day, ITMP is holding a writing competition. Write a blog post about an Indigenous-related topic of your choice, and send it to ITMP using our google form before June 21st, 11:59pm (Indigenous Peoples Day!). After that, we will publish one submitted post per week on the ITMP blog over the rest of the summer. This way, you can read what other students have written and interact by ‘liking’ posts you relate to or enjoy. We hope it will be a fun way to practice writing skills, share something important to you, and enjoy a summer of Indigenous content from your peers! 🙂
Students from kindergarten to university are all welcome to enter the competition, as well as ITMP tutors and admins. Students do not need to be part of ITMP to enter - if you have friends who are not being tutored with ITMP, they are welcome to join as well! All participants will get a thank-you message to show our appreciation for taking part in this and sharing their work. After every submission has been posted on the ITMP Blog, a winner will be announced in September and contacted by email for a prize (a digital gift card to Massy Books, an Indigenous-owned bookstore!). We encourage our younger students to get support from older family members, tutors, etc. to help submit your work on the google form.
Need help thinking of something to write about? Topics can be serious or more lighthearted and fun! Here are some examples:
Describe what you love about being Indigenous
Write about a book by an Indigenous author (or a song by an Indigenous musician!) and why you like it
Tell a story about your beadwork, art, drumming, or another activity that is important to you
Write a love letter to the place you grew up
Share what you know about Indigenous plants and their uses
Write about current events (APTN News is a wonderful source of Indigenous news stories! [content warning: news-typical topics like MMIW, wildfires, policing])
Write about a recipe and what it means to you
Write about Indigenous Fashion
Write about a Two-Spirit/LGBTQ+ artist, scholar, or Elder you admire (For kids: What is Two-Spirit?)
Write about something cool an Indigenous person accomplished this year
Author: Basil, ITMP Admin & IT Support
Photo Credits: Emerging Indigenous Voices via Indiegogo