Accidental Blogger

John Bianchi of Discover magazine sent me the following email.

"DISCOVER Magazine has just announced a nationwide contest, open to students grades three through eight, to create the cover of its October 2007 issue.  Participants are asked to submit artwork capturing their vision of "The State of Science in America" to the magazine editors.  This contest ends June 20 ^th, 2007, so anything you can do to help us spread the word to budding scientists and brilliant artists is much appreciated."

Please see below the announcement for the competition. I am no longer a teacher and am therefore not in touch with school age children. If there are interested teachers, parents and educators among our readers, please spread the word around in your local elementary and middle schools. The deadline for submissions is June 20, 2007. See more details of the competition here.  (the announcement is perhaps a bit late; schools are probably out for the summer)

“The State Of Science in America”

National Student Competition Will Yield Drawing for October Issue,

Looking to Next Generation of Scientists for Inspiration

New York, NY — DISCOVER Magazine announced that it will take the unprecedented step of holding a nationwide contest among students to design the cover of its October 2007 issue. The issue will focus on the state of science in America and will look to the next generation of scientists for the cover art.

The October issue will explore the status of America’s sciece labs, research universities and science eduction as well as technological advancements and international competition. This will be the beginnign of an ongoing exploration by the magazine to spark public discussion among readers and policy makers, including presidential hopefuls, of the quality of science in the United States.

"Taking this unprecedented step – given the importance of a magazine’s cover – underscores our commitment to raising this discussion" says Bob Guccione, Jr., CEO and Publisher of DISCOVER Magazine. "There’s no better snapshot of the future of science in America than what a child sees and perceives science to mean today. We look forward to presenting that vision in October."

The competition will be open to students grades three through eight who will be asked to depict the wonder and excitement of science. The contest begins immediately. The deadline for submissions is June 20, 2007. Guidelines and details are available at www.discovermagazine.com.  The winning entry will be chosen by DISCOVER’s editors.

In addition to the winning entry, to be published as the cover of the October issue, six finalists will be profiled in the issue, as well as on www.discovermagazine.com.