Some of the most interesting programs Ancient Coins for Education sponsors are its essay contests. Students are given a scenario about which they are encouraged to write an essay. Prizes can be substantial when sponsors come forward: Ancient coin dealer Harlan Berk sponsored a $2,000 savings bond for the first prize winner in the Senior essay category, plus a $500 bond for the Junior winner.
A Denarius for Your Thoughts - More frequently, however, big-money sponsors are in short supply, and ACE awards genuine ancient coins to essay winners. Topics have included:
- Animals in the Ancient World
- Myths and Money
- The World of the Roman Provinces
- And They Call Us Barbarians?
- Letters From the Frontier
ACE essay contests typically have 3 winners: one Senior High, one Intermediate (Middle-School), and one Junior High student. If you haven't yet clicked any of the links to read these essays, I strongly recommend that you do! They're really good!
What Happens When You Ask Kids to Design Ancient Coins? You get some pretty amazing artwork, that's what! This popular Ancient Coins for Education contest took place in Winter of 2003, and invited students to create coin designs for circulation in the Roman Empire. The five winning students developed some fascinating ancient coin designs!
Junior High School Kids Can Pass This Image Quiz - Can You? One of ACE's newest projects is its image quiz contest. I've been an ancient coin collector for 25 years and I still didn't know the answers to a couple of the questions! If you think you know classical history, especially mythology, give the ACE Mythology Quiz a try!
Education specialists agree that students learn and retain material much better when they become emotionally involved and interested in the material. Ancient Coins for Education strives to make the daunting subject matter of Classical Studies fun for students. In this day and age of standardized exams, where kids are trained to memorize cold facts so as to better pass the government-mandated tests, it is refreshing that non-profits like ACE are having so much success engaging students in a traditionally "difficult" subject area. I don't know about you, but I hated Latin class, and any history more than 200 years old just didn't matter; it happened too long ago, didn't it? I don't think feelings like the ones I had in school are that rare; oh how I wish we'd had an ACE-like program when I was in school!
The Future of Ancient Coins for Education - ACE President Mark Lehman tells me that if there is one message more than other he would want to convey about ACE, it is that a small group of dedicated people can achieve amazing results if they put forth the effort. There is little doubt that Ancient Coins for Education's programs are impacting the lives of the students it's touched. Since its inception, ACE has distributed over 50,000 ancient coins to young people. More than 30,000 students at over 500 schools have benefited from ACE services, with many of these students going on to become coin collectors themselves. All of these students have had a unique learning experience that is not readily available elsewhere.
Like all non-profits, however, Ancient Coins for Education relies on donations for its success. If you feel their programs are worthwhile, and you have a few extra collectible coins you want to part with (in exchange for a full-value charitable tax write-off) please contact ACE President Mark Lehman. Don't worry if your coins aren't ancient; ACE can trade them for ancients or use them for prizes. Or better yet, why not donate cash, so ACE can use it where it's most needed? The kids will thank you!
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