Nomination Instructions

MetroPCS Communications and ZTE have created the Mentors in Schools Essay Contest to offer students an opportunity to recognize and reward mentors in the school system who have helped champion their growth and development.

Students from selected geographic areas may write supportive essays about a school teacher or administrator who has greatly influenced their lives. The essays will be judged and awarded as stated below.

16 winner Mentors in Schools will each receive a ZTE phone, a year of free cellular service from MetroPCS, and a $1,000 Gift Card.

16 runner-up Mentors in Schools will each receive a ZTE phone, six months of free cellular service from MetroPCS, and a $500 Gift Card.

16 winner student essay authors will receive a ZTE phone, six months of free cellular service from MetroPCS, and a $200 Gift Card.

16 runner-up student essay authors will receive a ZTE phone, six months of free cellular service from MetroPCS, and a $50 Gift Card.

Rules and Timing

1. Students in grades 6 through 12 who live and attend public schools in the following areas are eligible to participate:
   • CA – Los Angeles area counties: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura
   • CA – Sacramento/Stockton area counties: Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Merced, Placer, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Shasta, Solano, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Yolo, Yuba
   • CA – San Francisco/Bay area counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma
   • FL – Miami/Fort Lauderdale/West Palm Beach area counties: Broward, Collier, Lee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Palm Beach
   • FL – Tampa area counties: Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota
   • GA – Metro Atlanta area counties: Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall, Henry, Jackson, Newton, Oconee, Paulding, Rockdale, Spalding, Walton
   • MI – Detroit area counties: Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair (Port Huron), Washtenaw, Wayne
   • TX – Dallas/Fort Worth area counties: Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Grayson, Hood, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Tarrant, Wise
2. Applicants are encouraged to submit online essay nominations. Students not able to submit online must send paper essay nominations to one of the addresses below for RECEIPT by Friday, March 21, 2008:

3. The maximum character count of the essays must be 6,000 characters or fewer for electronic nominations or 1,000 words or fewer for paper nominations.
4. Nominations are to include name, address, school, school address, age, grade, email address and home phone number for the author of the nominations. Also required is the name and title of the mentor who is being nominated.
5. All submissions must be original essays.
6. The deadline to submit nominations will be Friday, March 21, 2008, at 5:00 p.m., central time.
7. Winners will be contacted and announced in mid-April 2008.

Selection Process

Mentors in Schools will be chosen from the eight geographic locations mentioned above. The contest will be divided into two groups: students in grades 6 through 8 will compete against each other and students in grades 9 through 12 will compete against each other.

Within each area:

• Two students and their mentors (1st and 2nd place) will be selected from grades 6–8.
• Two students and their mentors (1st and 2nd place) will be selected from grades 9–12.

How to Nominate Online

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