Each year, the Daughters of the American Revolution sponsors two writing contests, one for the middle schools and one for the high schools.

The deadline for turning in this year’s essays is Nov. 15. All students attending school — public, private or homeschool — in Suffolk are eligible.

The American History Essay Contest is for students in grades 5-8. The essay must be 300 to 600 words for fifth-graders and 600 to 1,000 words for sixth- through eighth-graders.

The title should be “Celebrating a Century: America’s National Parks.” The National Park Service was established by Congress in 1916 and now manages about 84.4 million acres of national parks. Pretend you are writing a journal while visiting one of the 58 national parks. Identify its location. Discuss why and when it was established as a national park. What makes the park one of our national treasures?

Judging will be based on historical accuracy, adherence to topic, organization of material, interest, originality, spelling, grammar, punctuation and neatness.

The Christopher Columbus Essay Contest is for students in grades 9 through 12. The length must be from 800 to 1,200 words and have the title “Technology’s Impact on the Voyage of Christopher Columbus.” If Columbus had just some of the technology we have today in 2016, how might this have changed his planning and carrying out of his voyages? What technological advances would have been most beneficial to him?

The student’s full name and address, telephone number, email if available, name of school and grade level, name of sponsoring DAR chapter and the number of words in the essay must be provided. The essay must have a bibliography listing all references utilized.

One essay from each contest will be selected as the chapter winner and forwarded to the state competition. From there, winning essays may go on to the division and national competitions.

Essays should be mailed to 444 N. Main St., Suffolk, VA 23434, or drop them off at this address. For more information, email Linda Riddick at linriddick@verizon.net or call 934-1831. The local chapter is the Constantia Chapter.