2025 STudent SchoLARSHIP & Teacher Grant

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Teacher Grant: 

Review the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation’s teacher guide “Communism: Its Ideology, Its History, and Its Legacy.” Familiarize yourself with VOC’s Streamable Learning Education Videos. 

Describe how you teach this subject now and how you might incorporate some of these enrichment tools, including the VOC’s “Communism 101,” “Tools of Communism,” and “Communism and Religion,” and survivors of communism as guest speakers into your course curriculum. Describe challenges, if any, to teaching these subjects.  

Submit your essay at the Teacher Grant Application Portal:  

Student Scholarship

One Southlake is using the free online curriculums of Hillsdale College and Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, two 501(c)3 educational institutions. One Southlake doesn’t benefit financially from working with either organization. 

*Parents and Students please note: the Hillsdale College class is a college-level curriculum; it contains archival images of victims of communism that are graphic in nature. If you’d prefer not to view the images, please select the second option. 

Step 1: Select and complete one of the learning modules below

Learn

A. Marxism, Socialism, Communism from Hillsdale College: Take Hillsdale’s free online class, a combination of brief videos with quizzes. Estimated completion time is 3.5 hours. Save your completion certificate as a PDF file. You must upload this with your submission. 

Or 

B. Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation curriculum: Read the following chapters: Chapter 1: Communism 101; Chapter 2 Tools of Communism and Chapter 3 Communism and Religion. Answer these questions. Supplemental material is recommended but not required. Save your answers in a PDF file and upload this with your submission.

Step 2: Choose one of the following two methods below to show us what you learned.

A. Write: 700 - 1,000-word essay on the prompt below. See essay details below.  

Or 

B.  Video: Create a TED-talk video presentation answering the prompt below. Feel free to use graphics to illustrate your points. Source your work. Make sure your video is no longer than 10 minutes, and you own the right to use all music & images on the video. Make sure your video does not contain inappropriate language, images or sounds.

PROMPT:

Marx wrote that true communism can only be achieved through brute force and oppression, and the denial of natural rights such as speech, religion, assembly and private property ownership. Describe the societal effects of socialist and/or communist government implementation of such tactics in pursuit of the promised communist utopia, and briefly explain how contemporary Marxist attitudes, such as controlled or compelled speech, left unchecked, could potentially erode the freedoms Americans enjoy today. What conclusions have you drawn from studying this issue? (In your response, refer to real-world examples you learned from either the VOC’s Witness Project testimonies or from a One Southlake survivor of communism.)

Step 3: Submit

Link to the Student Scholarship Application Portal:  

Upload your answers to the VOC chapter assignment or Hillsdale Class Certificate, along with your essay and unofficial transcript or other information to the scholarship portal. Deadline is April 1, 2025, 11:59 p.m. *Finalists might be asked to speak at a One Southlake event honoring our winners! 

1. Essay Format: A qualifying essay will be 700 - 1,000 words (not including bibliography), double spaced, 12-point font, and 1-inch margins.
2. Use of Artificial Intelligence. It is prohibited to use any software or program which utilizes artificial intelligence to create your essay or video presentation. If your essay receives a score of 40 percent or higher on two different AI detectors, it will automatically be eliminated. 
3. Construction of Entry: You are responsible for the research, design, and creation of your entry. You may seek guidance from your teachers as you research and analyze your material, but your conclusions must be your own. You may have reasonable help preparing your project e.g. a mentor may provide context on your topic as both a primary or secondary source.
4. Annotated Bibliography: An annotated bibliography is required for all entries. List only those sources that contributed to the development of your entry, i.e., sources that provided usable information or new perspectives in preparing your entry. Sources of visual and audio materials and oral interviews must be included. Combine photos or other materials from the same collection in a single citation. Your annotated bibliography is not included in the word count. Note: Oral history transcripts, correspondence between you and experts, questionnaires, and other primary or secondary materials used as sources for your entry should be cited in your bibliography but not included as attachments to your bibliography.
5. Plagiarism: You must acknowledge in your annotated bibliography all sources used in your entry. Failure to credit sources is plagiarism and will result in disqualification.
6. Permission to Publish: Winning papers sometimes are published by contest officials; you must be prepared to give permission for such publication.

Information about Judging: Judging will be double blind with volunteers using a rubric that allots the following weight:

●  Demonstration of Understanding of material (70%)

●  Clarity of Presentation (30%)