Steven R. Curnow Competition:
To Teachers
The Cornish American Heritage Society offers your students the opportunity to participate in a competition to highlight Cornish Legacy in North America. There are no age or grade limitations. A student need not have Cornish background to apply.
The Steven R. Curnow Competition was established to honor the memory of a fourteen-year-old boy whose Cornish ancestors settled in Colorado. Steven Curnow died at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado in the 1999 shooting.
The competition asks students to do research about areas in North America that were settled by Cornish immigrants or about contributions to North American culture, history or technology made by Cornish immigrants. Students may present the results of their research in a variety of methods, including (but not necessarily limited to):
- 20-25 minute Multimedia (PowerPoint presentation, combined video or CD, etc.)
- Script for one-act dramatic presentation
- Poetry (no more than 100 lines)
- Essay of 1500 to 3500 words
- Musical work (up to 10 minutes duration)
- Dance work (choreography and performance up to 5 minutes duration)
- Work in Cornish dialect
- Photographic essay
- Painting
- Mechanical depiction of technology used by Cornish, e.g. working model of Cornish pump (must be able to be mailed)
Student projects will be judged using criteria in the accompanying rubric. Requirements for the competition were designed by following standards from the National Council of Teachers of English and the goals of the National Council of Social Sciences (attached).
The Cornish American Heritage Society (CAHS) will award $1000 to the winning submission. Second ($300) and third ($200) prizes will also be awarded. CAHS members will work with all prize winners to help them copyright their projects and to market the projects at the Biennial Gatherings of Cornish Cousins.
While CAHS will require that students assert that submissions are original, the Society has no objection to projects being used to fulfill class requirements if teachers agree.
To help students get started with their research, CAHS has assembled a list of sources to provide background on Cornwall and Cornish emigration. This is a general list that should be supplemented by resources from the region the student is researching. Additional resources may be found here.
CAHS has also provided a list of places that attracted many Cornish immigrants and/or their descendants. Members of the Society may also be able to offer suggestions or help to students as they explore the Cornish heritage and legacy in North America.
We welcome suggestions from educators for ways to improve the competition and are grateful for all assistance.
Our sincere thanks to you for bringing the Steven R. Curnow competition to the attention of your students.
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