Governor Ron DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis have announced their annual theme and student contests for Black History Month.  This years’ theme is “Celebrating Public Service” to recognize and pay tribute to African American leaders who play prominent roles in public service throughout Florida.

Students in grades K-3 are invited to participate in an art contest. Each student will submit original, two-dimensional artwork based on this year’s theme. Two winners will be selected.

Students in grades 4-12 are invited to participate in an essay contest. For the essay contest, each student will submit one essay no longer than 500 words based on this year’s theme.Three winners will be selected: one elementary school student (grades 4-5), one middle school student (grades 6-8) and one high school student (grades 9-12). Each winner will receive a 4-Year Florida College Plan scholarship provided by the Florida Prepaid College Foundation.

All entries must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. EST on Monday, March 4, 2019 and student contest forms must be mailed to Volunteer Florida or submitted online.

Winners will be notified after March 25,2019.

“Ron and I could not be more excited to join our state’s incredible students, parents, teachers and educators during Black History Month to celebrate and champion the public service of so many influential Floridians,” said First Lady Casey DeSantis.

“Our state is blessed to have several inspirational and talented leaders who serve our communities every day. I look forward to highlighting the contributions of those individuals during Black History Month.”

For more information, visit http://www.floridablackhistory.com/student-contests.html