COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

P.O. BOX 2120

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23218-2120

SUPTS. MEMO NO. 212

October 21, 2005

INFORMATIONAL

TO:	Division Superintendents
FROM:	Jo Lynne DeMary Superintendent of Public Instruction
SUBJECT:	Strong Men and Women: Excellence in Leadership Contest

On behalf of Dominion Virginia Power, the Department of Education is pleased to announce the Strong Men and Women: Excellence in Leadership writing contest for talented African-American students with especially good writing skills.

This program is in its fifteenth year of hosting this writing contest, which provides an opportunity for students to learn and write about strong leaders or positive role models. Four winners will be chosen from designated geographic regions in Dominions service area. For the first time, this years student winners of the writing contest will receive a new Dell laptop computer and their schools will receive a $1,000 cash award.

Each school may submit two entries. Contest winners will have the opportunity to read their essays to several hundred distinguished educators, community leaders, and the 2006 Strong Men and Women honorees in Richmond on the evening of Wednesday, January 18, 2006. Students and school representatives must be present to receive the awards. Dominion provides travel expenses and overnight accommodations for students and school representatives.

The application packet may be downloaded from the Virginia Dominion website at http://www.dom.com/. All applications are due November 16, 2005, to Virginia Dominion Power. For more information, contact Dr. Willie Stroble (Willie.Stroble@doe.virginia.gov), school counseling specialist, Office of Middle and High School Instruction at (804) 786-9377.

JLD/WLS/yba