Dottie Yeck Good Life Award Writing Contest

Honoring the life of Dottie Yeck, a champion of children, who believed that one is never too young to have an impact on the world.

Contest Dates: September 1, 2026 - October 8, 2026

Entrants must live or attend school in Montgomery County, Ohio, and be enrolled in a curriculum for grades 7-9.

You could win the top prize of $3,000! Three additional prizes of $500, $350, and $250. Honorable Mentions will receive a certificate and be individually recognized.

For more information call the Executive Coordinator at 937-610-4429 or send an email to: libadmin@wclibrary.info.

• Check out these great books and movies that will inspire you to live a good life!
• Read the winning entries from past years.
• See a list of represented schools.

Meet Rebecca (Esselstein) Shotwell, Ph.D., Astrophysics, Rhodes Scholar, Pilot, Aspiring Astronaut

Rebecca is a graduate of Alter High School (Valedictorian) and the U.S. Air Force Academy (Top Academic Graduate and Top Overall Graduate, 2015), where she studied Astronautical Engineering. She's a native of Washington Township and completed her PhD in Astrophysics at the University of Oxford in England as a Rhodes Scholar. For fun Rebecca rowed for the varsity Blue Boat at Oxford (2017), was CoSIDA Women's Div I Track & Field Academic All-American of the Year (2015), and she enjoys paddleboarding on the Gulf Coast when she's not flying C-130s for the Air Force. Mostly, however, she loves spending time with her husband, Caleb, and their cat, Gibbs.

• Entrants must be enrolled in a curriculum for grades 7 - 9 at the time the entry is submitted.
• Entrants must live or attend school in Montgomery County, Ohio.
• Prior Good Life Award $3000 prize winners are not eligible for this contest.
• Family members of Washington-Centerville Public Library staff and contest judges are not eligible for this contest.

• Complete the writing challenge in 300-500 words (entries of less than 300 words or more than 500 words will be disqualified).
• Essays must be the student's original work. Essays that are plagiarized or written with assistance from Chat GPT, or other AI assistance, are not allowed.
• Late entries will not be accepted.
• Submit only one entry per person.
• Certify the work was written by you and expresses your original ideas which you have developed. By submitting your entry to the Good Life Award, you guarantee the work as your own.
• Agree to attend the Good Life Celebration award ceremony if you win either the GLA Award or 2nd, 3rd or 4th place.

• Submit entry online using the official online entry form between September 1 and October 8.
• Copy and paste your final entry into the textbox.
  • Please be sure that your name and school are NOT included in the main body of your entry.
  • Do not submit your essay via Google Docs, Dropbox, & etc.
• The title is not included in the word count.

Invitation:

Being a teenager means you're always growing and figuring out who you want to be. Some days feel great, while others can be tough. School, friends, and what others think can sometimes affect how confident you feel or the choices you make. That's totally normal—but it also means you have the chance every day to learn, grow, and become the best version of yourself.

Assignment:

Create your own plan for living a good and happy life. Use your own experiences to share advice on building self-confidence and handling challenges at school or with other people. Think about ways to ignore negative influences and focus on the positive ones instead. Make sure your plan shows Dottie Yeck's idea that being a good person and doing good things will help you have fun and feel happy.

• Decisions of the judges and administrator are final.
• Adherence to all rules and challenge guidelines are basic requirements of this contest.
• The following criteria will be used to score the essays:

• First Place Winner: $3,000
• Second Place Winner: $500
• Third Place Winner: $350
• Fourth Place Winner: $250
• Honorable Mentions: Certificate of Achievement
• A check for $250 will be awarded to the class of the Good Life Award winner.

• The 2026 Dottie Yeck Good Life Award Celebration hosted by Washington-Centerville Public Library will be held at the Centerville Library on Thursday, December 3, 7:00 PM - 8:15 PM. Visit our Calendar of Events for more information about the Celebration Evening.
• Join us for an inspiring evening as we celebrate the winners and Honorable Mentions of the 21st Annual Dottie Yeck Good Life Award writing contest! Hear from our keynote speaker, Fran Kick, nationally known speaker, author, consultant, and local resident. Fran puts a unique perspective on life, and invites you to "Kick It In!"
• Top four winners agree to present their essays for the Good Life Celebration hosted by Washington-Centerville Public Library.
• This is a free program. Light refreshments will be served.

Dottie Yeck Good Life Award Endowment