Student Essay Contest

In the Fall of 2011, the Desk and Derrick Club of Tulsa held its fifteenth annual Energy Essay Contest for all public, private and home-schooled middle school students (grades 6-8) within Tulsa County and the surrounding area.

A total of $1865 in cash prizes was awarded to the winning students and their sponsoring teachers for the top ten essay scores.

We are pleased to announce that Landon Longacre is the first place winner of the 2011 Essay Contest. He is an excellent student of science teacher Linda Newkirk of Union Eighth Grade Center.  Landon is the son of Angela Alexander and Joe P. Longacre. Landon and his teacher, Ms. Newkirk, his principal, Ms. Robinson, as well as family members attended the awards banquet and ceremony held in December at the Kennedy Mansion in Tulsa.

Landon Longacre and Cheryl Wootton

Landon’s entry was a well-balanced essay touching on many facets of the industry’s impact in Oklahoma. He obviously impressed our judges, and we hope you will take the time to Read Landon’s Winning Essay.

We are grateful to Gwen Humphrey, retired administrator with Tulsa Public Schools, Terry Flynn with Tulsa Pipeline Expo, Tom Freeman with American Electric Power, Inc. and Clyde Wootton of BRG Energy, Inc. for generously giving of their time to serve as our judges. Special Thanks go to Cheryl Wootton for her dedication as Chair of the Essay Contest Committee.

2011 Contest Winners 

 Listed as: RANK – STUDENT NAME - TEACHER NAME – SCHOOL

1^st Landon Longacre – Linda Newkirk – Union Eighth Grade Center
2^nd Maureen Haynes – Susan McMurchy – Union Eighth Grade Center
3^rd Eric Teague – Tamarah Danzy – Union Eighth Grade Center
4^th Cheyene Green – Kathryn Elkins – Sapulpa Junior High School
5^th Cao Huynh - Linda Newkirk – Union Eighth Grade Center
6^th Caroline Hofmann – Lisa Malone - Union Eighth Grade Center
7^th Larissa Nelson – Lisa Malone - Union Eighth Grade Center
8^th Kayla Browne – Susan McMurchy – Union Eighth Grade Center
9^th Clara Bewley - Linda Newkirk – Union Eighth Grade Center
10^th Dalton Fair – Linda Newkirk - Union Eighth Grade Center

The five remaining finalists from Union who achieved honorable mention status are: Stephen Pangestu (McMurchy), Saige Shirley (McMurchy), Aaron Scales (McMurchy), Grace Flowers (Malone) and Charles Smith (Newkirk).

See the 2010 Essay Contest Winners

Following are the documents used for the contest:

• Contest Flyer (PDF)
• Contest Flyer (MS WORD)
• Contest Rules (PDF)
• Contest Rules (MS WORD)
• Entry Form (PDF)
• Entry Form (MS WORD)
• Bibliography Guidelines (PDF)
• Bibliography Guidelines (MS WORD)
• Oil & Gas Research Links (PDF)
• Oil & Gas Research Links (MS WORD)

Marla Robinson - Union 8th Grade Center Principal, Linda Newkirk - Union Science Teacher, Landon Longacre - Contest Winner, Cheryl Wootton - Contest Chair