PORT ANGELES — Clallam County high school seniors are invited to enter an essay contest offering $800 in prizes.

The deadline for submission to the Republican Women of Clallam County’s Achievement Award Essay Contest is 11:59 p.m. April 4. Winners will be notified on or about May 1.

The essay topic is “Why is the Supreme Court important in the balance of powers: executive, legislative and judicial branches?”

Two awards will be given: a first prize of $500 and a second prize of $300.

The contest is open to all seniors enrolled in public, private or home schools in the Port Angeles, Sequim, Crescent or Quillayute Valley school districts and who are planning to attend a post-secondary institution.

Submissions can be in any writing style. Essays should demonstrate the students’ knowledge of history, civics and government.

Essays can be submitted as PDFs, in Microsoft Word or in plain text format via email.

They are to be no fewer than 400 words and no more than 500 words long, be double-spaced, in Times New Roman 12 font and in English.

In addition to being judged on content, style, grammar and spelling, essays will be awarded points.

■ Knowledge of the theme: 30 points. The essay must be well-researched.

■ Theme development: 35 points. The essay should answer all relevant facts about the theme such as who, what, where, when and why, and relate the topic to current events.

■ Clarity of ideas: 35 points. The essay should be written in an easy-to-understand format, giving the reader a clear understanding of the explanation of the topic.

The submission is to be sent to the Achievement Award Committee at kpstorst@aol.com, with the student’s full name, age, residence address, telephone number, email address, school currently attending and names of parents or guardian, as well as the name of the institute the students plans to attend after high school.

The essay can be included either as an attachment to the email or in the body of the email. Only one essay will be accepted per submitter.

Awards will be presented at the May or June meeting of the group. Meetings are the second Monday of each month.

Rules and submission forms can be found at www.rwclallamcounty.org or at local school counselor offices.

For details, phone Penny Thiemann at 360-452-9456.