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The Best Student Writing Contests for 2024-2025

Help your students take their writing to the next level.

When students write for teachers, it can feel like an assignment. When they write for a real purpose, they are empowered! Student writing contests are a challenging and inspiring way to try writing for an authentic audience— a real panel of judges —and the possibility of prize money or other incentives. We’ve gathered a list of the best student writing contests, and there’s something here for everyone. Prepare highly motivated kids in need of an authentic writing mentor, and watch the words flow.

2024-2025 Student Writing Contests

1.  the scholastic art & writing awards.

With a wide range of categories—from critical essays to science fiction and fantasy—the Scholastic Awards are a mainstay of student contests. Each category has its own rules and word counts, so be sure to check out the options  before you decide which one is best for your students.

How To Enter

Students in grades 7 to 12, ages 13 and up, may begin submitting work in September by uploading to an online account at Scholastic and connecting to their local region. Entry fees are waived for students in need.

2.  YoungArts National Arts Competition

YoungArts offers an annual national competition in the categories of creative nonfiction, novel, play or script, poetry, short story, and spoken word. Student winners may receive awards of up to $10,000 as well as the chance to participate in artistic development with leaders in their fields.

Check out the site for guidelines on writing modes, such as short stories and spoken word poetry, and sign up for updates so you’re ready when the applications open.

FEATURED PICK

3. The Edit

The Edit is a digital storytelling challenge from NBCU Academy and Adobe. Your middle or high school students will build critical communication and collaboration skills as they plan, script, and produce their own 90-second video news reports on wellness topics. Winning classrooms will be rewarded with prizes like GoPros, Fandango gift cards, and more!​

It’s free to enter. All submissions must be received by March 3, 2025.

4. Write the World Competitions

Not only is Write the World one of my favorite places to find writing resources, but it also hosts free monthly contests with cash prizes. There are also opportunities for feedback, and lots of ideas to help students get started.

With a student account, young writers draft and submit their work on the website. ADVERTISEMENT

5. National Youth Foundation Programs

Each year, awards are given for Student Book Scholars, Amazing Women, and the “I Matter” Poetry & Art competition. This is a great chance for kids to express themselves with joy and strength.

The rules, prizes, and deadlines vary, so check out the website for more info.

6.  American Foreign Service National High School Essay Contest

If you’re looking to help students take a deep dive into international relations, history, and writing, look no further than this essay contest. Winners receive a voyage with the Semester at Sea program and a trip to Washington, D.C.

Students fill out a registration form online, and a teacher or sponsor is required. The deadline to enter is March 1, 2025.

7.  Poets.org’s Annual Dear Poet Contest

Each year during National Poetry Month in April, students can write letters to famous poets in response to their work. In this interactive contest, all submissions receive a general letter and certificate, and winners receive a personalized response from the poet they wrote to. It’s a great way to #TeachLivingPoets, and kids get to ask questions about the creative process.

Return to the site in April to find the forms for submitting letters. A guardian or teacher must also provide a letter so the submissions can be published.

8.  John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Essay Contest

This annual contest invites students to write about an elected official’s act of political courage that occurred anytime after 1917, the year Kennedy was born. The winner receives $10,000, and 16 runners-up also receive a variety of cash prizes.

Students may submit a 700- to 1,000-word essay through January 12. The essay must feature more than five sources and a full bibliography.

9. WriteCause Competitions

These free quarterly contests accept a variety of written submissions, each based on a different quarterly theme. WriteCause also provides research links so students can learn about the topics before writing. Open to kids ages 13 to 18.

Check out the Compete link for contest information each quarter, and use the online submission form.

10. The Princeton Ten-Minute Play Contest

Looking for student writing contests for budding playwrights? This exclusive competition, which is open only to high school juniors, is judged by the theater faculty of Princeton University. Students submit short plays in an effort to win recognition and cash prizes of up to $500. (Note: Only open to 11th graders.)

Students submit one 10-page play script online or by mail. The deadline will be announced later this year.

11. Princeton University Poetry Contest for High School Students

The Leonard L. Milberg ’53 High School Poetry Prize recognizes outstanding work by student writers in 11th grade. Prizes range from $100 to $500.

Students in 11th grade can submit their poetry. Contest details will be published this fall.

12. The New York Times Tiny Memoir Contest

This contest is also a wonderful writing challenge, and the New York Times includes lots of resources and models for students to be able to do their best work. They’ve even made a classroom poster !

Submissions need to be made electronically by November 1.

13.  The New York Times Contest Calendar

For students who want to extend beyond 100-word memoirs, the New York Times also provides competitive opportunities in areas including photography, opinion pieces, and podcasting.

Find an area that students are interested in and check out the rules and deadlines.

14.  The Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers

The Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers is open to high school sophomores and juniors, and the winner receives a full scholarship to a  Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop .

Submissions for the prize are accepted electronically from November 1 through November 30.

15. Jane Austen Society Essay Contest

High school students can win up to $1,000 and publication by entering an essay on a topic specified by the Jane Austen Society related to a Jane Austen novel.

Details for the 2024 contest will be announced in November. Essay length is from six to eight pages, not including works cited.

16. Rattle Young Poets Anthology

Open to students from 15 to 18 years old who are interested in publication and exposure over monetary awards.

Teachers may choose up to five students to submit up to four poems each on their behalf. The deadline is November 15.

17. The Black River Chapbook Competition

This is a chance for new and emerging writers to gain publication in their own professionally published chapbook, as well as $500 and free copies of the book.

There is an $18 entry fee, and submissions are made online.

18. YouthPlays New Voices

Young writers under 18 create new one-act plays for the stage. Winners receive cash awards and publication.

Scroll all the way down their web page for information on the contest, which accepts non-musical plays between 10 and 40 minutes long, submitted electronically. The entry period opens each year in January.

19. The Ocean Awareness Contest

The theme for the 2025 Ocean Awareness Contest is “Connections to Nature: Looking Inside, Going Outside.” Students are eligible for a wide range of monetary prizes up to $1,000.

Students from 11 to 18 years old may submit work in the categories of art, creative writing, poetry and spoken word, film, interactive media and multimedia, or music and dance, accompanied by a reflection. The deadline is June 13.

20. EngineerGirl Annual Writing Contest

Each year, EngineerGirl sponsors an essay contest with topics centered on the impact of engineering on the world, and students can win up to $500 in prize money. This contest is a nice bridge between ELA and STEM and great for teachers interested in incorporating an interdisciplinary project into their curriculum. The new contest asks for pieces describing the life cycle of an everyday object. Check out these tips for integrating the content into your classroom .

Students submit their work electronically by February 1. Check out the full list of rules and requirements here .

21. NCTE Student Writing Awards

The National Council of Teachers of English offers several student writing awards, including Achievement Awards in Writing (for 10th- and 11th-grade students), Promising Young Writers (for 8th-grade students), and an award to recognize Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines.

Deadlines range from October 28 to February 15. Check out NCTE.org for more details.

22. Narrative High School Writing Contest

The prompt for Narrative’s 10th Annual Writing Contest is “What I Cannot Say, I’ll Say Here.” Stories are limited to 600 words, and kids can also enter poems of no more than 50 lines. The website also provides different ideas and insights to help students approach the prompt.

Students in grades 9 through 12 submit their work through their teacher, who may submit up to 10 pieces.

23. US vs HATE Contests

Engage social media-savvy students with this creative contest that seeks messages of kindness, inclusivity, and bridge-building.

Check the website for an informational poster as well as guidelines and ideas about how students can submit their work.

24. National PTA Reflections Awards

The National PTA offers a variety of awards, including one for literature, in their annual Reflections Contest. Students of all ages can submit entries on the specified topic to their local PTA Reflections program. From there, winners move to the local area, state, and national levels. National-level awards include an $800 prize and a trip to the National PTA Convention.

This program requires submitting to PTAs who participate in the program. Check your school’s PTA for their deadlines.

25. World Historian Student Essay Competition

The World Historian Student Essay Competition is an international contest open to students enrolled in grades K through 12 in public, private, and parochial schools, as well as those in home-study programs. The $500 prize is based on an essay that addresses one of this year’s two prompts.

Students can submit entries via email or regular mail before May 1.

26. Future Scholar Foundation Short Story Contest

Monthly contests, each with different themes, offer Amazon gift cards and publication as awards. It’s open to elementary and middle school students.

Check the site each month for the new theme. Submissions are due on the 28th.

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Plus, check out our favorite anchor charts for teaching writing..

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A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

9th annual high school & college essay contest, deadline for entries is february 29, 2024.

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words is a writing competition at the Albany Museum of Art for college and high school students interested in inspiring museum goers by writing an essay that is connected with a work of art. The top three essayists in each division win a cash award.

Students: Read the rules below and submit your essay HERE .

Dates, Guidelines, FAQs & Winners

• The submission period for essays opens Feb 1, 2024.
• The submission period for essays closes at midnight, Feb 29, 2024.
• Winners will be announced at an awards reception at 6 pm on March 7 at the AMA.
• Essays should be mailed in Word format HERE .

Who can compete?

There are two divisions: college and high school.

College Division: Any student who attends a college or university.

High School Division: Any student who attends a public, private, or home school.

NOTE: Students who are dually enrolled in high school and college classes compete in the college division.

Use of AI is not permitted

By submitting an entry to the contest, the student affirms that artificial intelligence was not used in creating the essay. Use of AI disqualifies a writer from the contest.

How do I enter the competition? 

Visit the Albany Museum of Art and choose a work of art from the  A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words art object list. The work of art written about must be from this list to ensure that the artwork is on view at the AMA for the entire competition.

The six designated art objects will be labeled in the galleries during the month of February.

NOTE: Electronic images of the selected works will not be provided. The participating student must visit the AMA to see the designated art objects.

What are the prizes?

Cash awards are given for the top three essays in each of the college and high school divisions.

The winning essays will be published on albanymuseum.com.

How will the essays be judged?

Each essay will be assigned a number ID and all identifying information in regard to who submitted the essay will be removed before the essays are submitted to a panel of judges. The judges—one panel for high school submissions and a second for college essays—will read and rank the essays.

When will the winners be announced?

High school and college winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on March 7, 2024, at the AMA. In addition, the top essayists in each division will be invited to read their respective essays at the event.

Writing Tips

Give your chosen work a close look: What story lies behind the image? What feelings does the piece awaken in you? What do you see that no one may have seen before? Let the art speak to you and then let your ideas flow onto the page! Please remember to revise and edit your essay before submitting it, and be absolutely sure that your submission is no longer than 1000 words.

Need more info?

Through your writing, A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words will create new ways of seeing and reading the Albany Museum of Art’s collection. We are looking forward to your art-inspired words! For more information, email HERE . 

Student Writing Contest

Unknown Sitters

View the winners of our 2024 Student Writing Contest

Our museum holds a collection of over a million artifacts and artworks. These objects help us document the past—but there are still pieces missing from the historical puzzle. THNOC’s upcoming exhibition Unknown Sitters features paintings of people who sat to have their portrait painted, but whose names and unique identities have been lost to us through time. For this year’s Student Writing Contest, we want student writers to use their creativity and historical knowledge to invent imaginary identities for these New Orleanians we don't know.

Students should select one of the portraits for their grade level from the Unknown Sitters exhibition (images below). 

Look closely at the portrait and search for clues that might tell more about the person and their time in history. Details like the people’s clothes, surroundings, and facial expressions can tell us a great deal.

In 200 words or less, write a creative description of the person or people in the portrait. It could be a poem or a paragraph, from the sitter’s or artist’s point of view, or from your own perspective. Any type of creative writing is welcome!  Scroll down for more info, or submit your entry here .

Grades 3, 4, and 5

1958, by Max Hill,  2007.0388.27

1840–1850, by Charles Octavius Cole,  1993.56

1867–1869, by Andrew Roth,  1987.177

Grades 6, 7, and 8

1981, by Douglas Bourgeois,  2018.0253.14

1840–1860, by Jules Lion,  2021.0264

1945–1950, by Howard Newton Reeve,  1996.88

Grades 9, 10, 11, and 12

1930–1935, by Daniel Webster Whitney,  1984.231.7

1870, by François Bernard,  1997.120.8

1862–1872, by François Bernard,  2008.0329.1

Here are some other questions and ideas to help students get started:

• What title would you give this portrait?
• Why did you choose this portrait? What about the person or people is interesting to you?
• How do you think the people felt when they were painted?
• What would the person have liked or disliked?
• Where would the person have lived? Where would they have worked? Who would their friends have been?
• What challenges would the person have faced?
• Who was this portrait made for? Would it have hung in a home or in an office?

Contest Guidelines:

• This contest is open to all students in grades 3–12 in the United States and US territories.
• Each student may submit only one entry.  
• Entries should be submitted through the THNOC Student Writing Contest form .
• Each entry should be 200 words or less.
• Each entry must be a wholly original work composed by the submitter.  Any entry that is found to be plagiarized in whole or in part will be immediately disqualified. 
• The deadline to submit an entry is February 28, 2024.

Contest Awards:

A judging panel of THNOC staff will select winning elementary (grades 3–5), middle school (grades 6–8), and high school (grades 9–12) entries. The winning writers from each category will receive $350 for first place, $250 for second place, and $150 for third place. In addition, all winners’ entries will be published on THNOC’s website.

A selection of entries will be included in the  Unknown Sitters  exhibition at THNOC.

Winners will be announced in March, 2024.

Questions? Contact Collin Makamson , Curator of Education

Submit Your Entry!

Past Contests

2023 Student Writing Contest

2022 Student Writing Contest

2021 Student Writing Contest

2020 Student Essay Contest

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Write on Art

Write on Art is an annual national writing competition sponsored by Art UK and the  Paul Mellon Centre  to encourage an interest in art history and art writing among young people. Find out more about the prize and how to enter.

What is Write on Art?

Tips for writing

How to apply

Write on Art terms and conditions

America's Field Trip

In 2026, the United States will mark our Semiquincentennial: the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Today’s young people are the leaders, innovators, and thinkers who will shape the next 250 years — and it’s important their voices are heard as we commemorate this historic milestone.

America’s Field Trip is a contest that invites students across the country in grades 3–12 to be part of America’s 250th anniversary by sharing their perspectives on what America means to them — with the opportunity to earn an unforgettable field trip experience at some of the nation’s most iconic historic and cultural landmarks.

Students are asked to submit writing or original artwork in response to the contest’s prompt: “What does America mean to you?”

Submissions will be accepted until Wednesday, April 16, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. ET.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY . Contest ends 5:00 p.m. ET on 4/16/25. Open to U.S. students (3rd – 12th grade). See  Official Rules  for full details including how to enter, eligibility requirements, prize description/restrictions and judging procedure. Void where prohibited.

For the 2024-2025 America’s Field Trip contest, 25 first-place awardees from each grade level category and a chaperone will receive airfare and lodging for a 3-day, 2-night trip to a select historical or cultural site where they will experience one of the following:

• Behind-the-scenes tour of the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center and sleepover at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington, DC
• Exclusive visits to two Washington, DC, institutions: a trip into the National Archives Vault on the National Mall and private tour of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo
• Exclusive tour of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia, and visit to the Library of Congress in Washington, DC
• Storytelling, history, and commemoration under the stars at Mount Rushmore National Memorial
• Private tours of Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum, the International African American Museum, and the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston, South Carolina
• Exclusive tours of the Alamo in San Antonio and the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas
• Backstage tour of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio
• Beyond the ropes tour of Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Guided visit to Angel Island Immigration Station and candlelight tour of Fort Point at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California
• Private guided tour of Yellowstone National Park in Montana and Wyoming
• Ranger-led hikes and tours of the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado
• Private tour of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida

Second-place awardees will receive a $500 cash award. The teacher associated with the top scoring student submissions in each grade level category will receive a $1,000 cash award.

See full list of field trips

Resources for Applicants

Thought starters.

Below are some questions and prompts that may be helpful for students to consider as starting points as they prepare their submissions. Students are not expected to specifically address any or all of these questions in their responses.

• What has shaped America over the past 250 years? Think about the impact of individuals, ideas, documents, historical movements, and events and how they have affected the growth and development of our country.
• How has America influenced your family? Think about opportunities and benefits your family has enjoyed, challenges your family has faced, and service your family has given. Consider previous generations too–not just your immediate family.
• What do you hope for America’s future? Think about what you hope the country can achieve and how you can help make it a reality.

Additional thought starters for high school students:

• Read and reflect on the first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence.
• What do the key ideas, values, and promises represented in the Declaration of Independence mean to you? What do you think they meant to Americans in 1776?

Do’s and Don’ts

• Be creative!
• Reflect on your own American story and that of your family and community.
• Talk to your teachers, parents, and community to get ideas for your entry.
• Let your personality shine through!
• Include your full name, address, e-mail address, telephone number, age or school name in your entry.
• Submit work you didn’t personally create entirely on your own. DO NOT USE AI TOOLS.
• Develop an entry as a group or team – each entry can only come from one student.
• Include names or images of your family members or friends.
• Include copyrighted materials (for example: celebrity names, names of sports teams, song lyrics written by others, photos, brand names or logos) in your entry. DO NOT PLAGIARIZE OR USE OTHER PERSONS’ WORK.
• Feel you have to only address our country’s past — you can talk about America’s future too.

Submission Guidelines

• Elementary School (3rd to 5th Grade) : Students may submit artwork, including physical or digital artwork through a high-res photo or a short written response (up to 100 words).
• Middle School (6th to 8th Grade) : Students may submit artwork, including physical or digital artwork through a high-res photo, or a written response (up to 250 words).
• High School (9th to 12th Grade) : Students may submit artwork, including physical or digital artwork through a high-res photo, or a written response (up to 500 words).

Judging Criteria

A diverse panel of judges consisting of current and former teachers will consider the submissions based on the following weighted criteria:

• Clarity of Idea [25%]: How well does the Entrant use both their personal and academic experiences to clearly address the Question? Does the Entry effectively convey ideas, emotion, or a story visually or with words by acknowledging the past or celebrating America’s achievements and possibilities for the future? Does the response offer fresh insight and innovative thinking?
• Student Voice [50%]: Is there passion in the Entry or a point-of-view that showcases a unique perspective on the diverse range of different experiences that make America unique in an original/authentic way?
• Presentation [25%]: What makes the submission content more compelling, fresh, or interesting than other Entrants’ content in their grade level category?

2024 Awardees

Thousands of students from across the country submitted inspiring entries, responding to the prompt “What does America mean to you?” for the first-ever America’s Field Trip contest. A panel of current and former educators selected 150 students as awardees, hailing from 44 states and territories.

Learn more about the 2024 awardees and their submissions!

See 2024 Awardees

Resources for Educators

Educators and school administrators will play an important role in engaging students and school communities in this contest and commemorating America’s 250th anniversary.

Students participating in the America’s Field Trip contest will be challenged to think critically about the nation’s journey to becoming a more perfect union, reflecting on the pivotal events and historical figures that have shaped the country.

Together with worldwide ed tech leader Discovery Education, America250 is sharing tools and resources to assist educators in bringing the America’s Field Trip contest to their classrooms. New for the 2024-2025 school year is an educator-facing instructional video from Discovery Education designed to help teachers align the contest prompt, “What does America mean to you?” with standards frameworks. Access resources here.

In partnership with

Funding provided by The Bank of New York Mellon Foundation. Custom educational programming for students and teachers developed by Discovery Education.

What is America250?

America250 is a nonpartisan initiative working to engage every American in commemorating and celebrating the 250th anniversary of our country. It is spearheaded by the congressionally-appointed U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission and its nonprofit supporting organization, America250.org, Inc.

How can I bring America’s Field Trip into my classroom?

America250 is partnering with Discovery Education, the worldwide edtech leader, to develop custom educational programming that helps students deepen their understanding of America’s 250th anniversary and encourages participation in the America’s Field Trip contest with ready-to-use resources and activities for teachers. Access resources here .

What should students submit?

Submission requirements differ by grade level.

How will field trips be selected, and who will be chaperoning the trips?

Trips will be organized by America250 and chaperoned by the recipient’s parent or legal guardian or replacement family member guest (see Official Contest Rules for replacement guest criteria) along with other field trip recipients. First-place awardees will get to express their preference for trips, and final locations will be determined based on a first come, first serve basis, age group, availability, and recipient preference.

Can students bring their families on their field trips?

Students are required to have one chaperone, which must be a parent or legal guardian or replacement family member guest who must be at least 25 years of age and have full Power of Attorney, including medical, for the duration of the field trip. Additional guests will not be allowed to accompany awardees on field trips. (See Official Contest Rules for more details)

If I am a teacher, do I need the parental consent for each student in order to submit an Entry on their behalf?

Yes. By submitting an Entry, Submitters (if not the parent/legal guardian of Minor Entrant or Entrant who is of legal age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence) represent and warrant that they have obtained the written permission of the Entrant’s parent/legal guardian to submit an Entry (all Entries include the Entrant’s information and submission). See Official Contest Rules for more details.

If I am an educator and several of my students create entries, can I submit multiple entries?

Yes. While each student must create their submission individually, educators who receive written permission from each entrant’s parent or legal guardian can submit entries on behalf of multiple students using the application portal’s bulk upload feature. Students must be at the same school and grade level category.

What if I have additional questions?

Please email [email protected] .

Ready to Share What America Means to You?

Once you finish responding to the prompt, you must have a teacher, parent, or legal guardian upload your submission for consideration.

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Our 2024-25 Student Contest Calendar

Ten challenges that invite teenagers to engage, experiment, reflect and create — via writing, photography, audio, video and more.

By The Learning Network

Our annual Contest Calendar is probably the single most powerful thing we publish all year. Teachers tell us they plan their classes around our challenges, and tens of thousands of teenagers around the globe participate by creating narratives, reviews, videos, opinion pieces, podcasts, illustrations, photo essays and more.

For us, these contests are an honor and a joy to host. We love learning from young people — about what moves them and makes them mad, what intrigues and confuses and delights and defines them.

This year, we are bringing back some recent and longtime favorites, as well as introducing a few new challenges.

To begin, we have two options this fall in response to the U.S. election, though students around the globe are welcome. In September, we open with a series of special forums that invite teenagers to have thoughtful conversations about their civic and political identities, values and beliefs. Then, if they choose, they can work alone or with others to make something in response — whether in writing, video, audio or visual art.

In the spring, we’re offering “My List,” a twist on our long-running review contest. This time, students can choose any collection of three to five works of art or culture to group in some way and then tell us why we should — or shouldn’t — check them out.

We’ll be posting the full rules and guidelines for each contest here when it opens. but for now you can look at the related resources we’ve provided, as well as last year’s rules, which will largely remain the same for our returning contests. And don’t forget we have a full yearlong writing curriculum to help support this work.

As always, we hope these contests encourage students to try different ways of thinking and creating, experimenting with both what they want to say and how they want to say it.

If you need some encouragement to participate, we recommend three pieces. Students might start with “ ‘I Was Enough’: How I Stopped Trying to Sound Smart and Found My Genuine Writing Voice ,” by a teenager who reflects on how our competitions have helped her grow. If you are an educator, our reader-submitted “ 10 Reasons to Send Student Work Out Into the World ” might be compelling, as might this essay , published on EdSurge by a teacher in a career and technical education program who uses our contests to help design learning around “authentic issues, problems and ideas.”

To download a PDF version of this contest calendar, click here. Questions? Scroll to the bottom of this post to learn more, write to us at [email protected] or post a comment here.

New! Election 2024 Student Conversation Forum

Reflect on your civic and political values, beliefs and identity and share your perspectives on current issues by participating in our special discussion forums for teenagers.

Run much like our 2020 Civil Conversation Challenge , these forums are accessible ways to help students from around the country and the world have rich discussions about important issues.

Here are the rules and guidelines for this year’s Student Conversation Forum . The five themes, along with dates when each forum will open for comment, are:

Forum 1 | Identity: Who are you, and how does that identity inform your political beliefs and values? (Open)

Forum 2 | Conversations Across Divides: What experiences have you had in talking to those who may not agree with you — whether in school, with friends and family, or online? What has been helpful? What has been hard? Why do these conversations matter? (Open)

Forum 3 | The Issues: What issues matter to you most? How do they connect to your life and the lives of those you care about? (Open)

Forum 4 | Information and Disinformation: Where do you get your information about current events? How do you think these sources affect your understanding of our world? (Open)

Forum 5 | Hope for the Future: What are you optimistic about? What might your generation do better than those that came before it? (Open)

Oct. 2-Nov. 4

New! Coming of Age in 2024: A Multimedia Contest

Choose any of the questions that we’ve posed in the Election 2024 Student Conversation Forum (see above) and make something in response — whether in writing, visual art, video or audio. You can work alone or with others, and you can create almost anything you like.

For instance, you could make …

A poem, a narrative essay or a comic about who you are and how that affects your political beliefs

A podcast, a video or a play about having conversations with those who think differently from you about an issue — or a list of tips for how to have those conversations productively

An opinion essay, a drawing or a song about an issue you care about

An infographic, a diary entry or a video about the news and political information you consume and how it affects you

A photograph, a letter or a collage that expresses what you’re hopeful about

Here are the rules and guidelines , and here is a guide that includes four steps to figuring out what you want to say and how you would like to say it, with inspiration from 31 teen-created works across genres.

Nov. 6-Dec. 4, 2024

My Tiny Memoir: Our 100-Word Personal Narrative Contest

What story from your life can you tell in just 100 words? Based on the storytelling form popularized by Modern Love’s Tiny Love Stories , we invite you to write a miniature personal narrative about a meaningful life experience.

Here are the rules and guidelines. For more inspiration, read the work of last year’s winners , or follow this step-by-step guide for participating .

Dec. 4, 2024-Jan. 15, 2025

Where We Are: Photo Essays About Community

Inspired by the immersive New York Times series Where We Are , which focuses on young people and the spaces where they create community, we invite students to work alone or with others to make photo essays about the communities that interest them.

You can document any kind of offline community you like and feature people of any age. Then tell us about it by sending six to eight images with captions and a short introduction.

Here are the rules and guidelines. For more inspiration, see the work of last year’s winners , or follow this step-by-step guide for participating .

Jan. 15-Feb. 12, 2025

New! My List: A Different Kind of Review Contest

Three Novels That Have Great Teenage Characters Four Sci-Fi Movies That Even People Who Hate Sci-Fi Will Love The Five Worst Fast Food Sandwiches

Choose any collection of three to five works of art or culture to group in some way, and then tell us, in 600 words or fewer, why we should — or shouldn’t — check them out.

You can work alone or with others and can make lists about any category of creative expression The Times covers, whether books, movies, restaurants, albums, theatrical productions, video games, dances, TV shows, architecture or art exhibitions. More details to come, but for now check out Times collections like this one (about Star Wars) or this one (about new songs) to get the idea.

Feb. 12-March 12, 2025

‘ How to …’: An Informational Writing Contest

Following the example of the long-running Tip column from The New York Times Magazine, write a short description of how to do (almost) any task in 400 words or fewer.

As long as your topic is appropriate for a family newspaper, you can explain whatever you like, including tasks that Tip has already taken on. But you must find, interview and quote one expert on the subject throughout your piece.

Here are the rules and guidelines. For more inspiration, read the work of last year’s winners , or follow this step-by-step guide for participating.

March 12-April 16, 2025

Open Letters: Our Opinion Writing Contest

What bothers you? Who could do something about it?

In the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter From Birmingham Jail and the open letters you can find in the Opinion section of The New York Times, we invite you to write a letter of protest or appeal, in 500 words or fewer, to a person or group who can make a change on an issue that matters to you. While your letter should address a specific audience, its real purpose is to be read by — and to influence — the general public.

April 16-May 14, 2025

Audio Stories: Our Podcast Contest

Make an original podcast of five minutes or less that informs or entertains listeners. You can create a podcast on any topic you like in any format you like, whether that’s an interview with an expert, an informal conversation with a friend, a journalistic investigation, a fictional story or anything else you can think of.

Here are the rules and guidelines. For inspiration, listen to the work of past winners and visit the related writing unit .

June 6-Aug. 15, 2025

Voice and Choice: Our Summer Reading Contest

Every week for 10 weeks during the summer we’ll be asking: What got your attention in The Times, and why? Each week students can enter by submitting a short written response — or they can make a video up to 90 seconds long.

Here are last year’s rules and guidelines . For inspiration, read the work of past winners and visit the related writing unit .

All School Year

Our Conversation Challenge for Weekly Current Events

We invite students to react to the news via our daily writing prompts , and each week, we publish a selection of their comments in a roundup for the world to read . We will also give a shout-out to new schools that join the conversation.

A Few More Details About Our Contests

Why do we run so many contests? We believe in student voice. We want young people to be active content creators, not just consumers. And we’re proud to offer places where they can create for an authentic audience of students, teachers, parents and other readers from around the world.

Here are more details:

On the day each contest begins, we will add a link here, on this page, to the contest announcement so students can submit entries. We will also link to all related materials as they are published.

The work students send us is always considered by our staff and other experts , including Times journalists, as well as educators from partner organizations or professional practitioners in a related field. Judging for our contests is blind. That means we see only the entries themselves, not student names or schools, when we make our decisions.

We announce finalists about two months after a contest has closed and winners get their work published on The Learning Network. We usually celebrate dozens of winners, runners-up and honorable mentions each time.

Students’ entries must be original and fundamentally their own. They must not be plagiarized, written by someone else or generated by artificial intelligence. They also should not have been published elsewhere at the time of submission, including in a school newspaper, on a radio station’s website or in a literary magazine.

Anyone who submits to our contests retains the copyright for the work, even after we publish it.

Students can enter as many contests as they want, but they can submit only one entry per contest. Our Summer Reading Contest, however, offers a fresh opportunity to submit each week for 10 weeks.

Entries for most contests must be accompanied by a statement describing your process. We are interested in how you made what you made, and your comments help us improve our offerings.

All of our contests are open to students around the world ages 13 to 19 who are in middle school or high school. Age is determined by the student’s age at the time of submission. College students cannot submit entries. However, high school students (including high school postgraduate students) who are taking one or more college classes can participate. Students attending their first year of a two-year CEGEP in Quebec can also participate. In addition, students ages 19 or under who have completed high school but are taking a gap year or are otherwise not enrolled in college can participate. Note: The children and stepchildren of New York Times employees are not eligible to enter these contests, nor are students who live in the same household as those employees.

Want to make sure you never miss a contest announcement? Sign up for our free weekly newsletter , or follow us on Facebook .

We can’t wait to see what you’ll create this year!

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David McCullough Essay Prizes

Read the winning 2024 essays below..

High school students in our Affiliate School Program are encouraged to participate in the prestigious David McCullough Essay Prize competition.

The 2025 contest launches on December 16.

Image: David McCullough at Trinity School in Manhattan, October 15, 2019

$5000 1st Prizes

$1500 2nd Prizes

$500 3rd Prizes

An Essay Competition Honoring a Master Storyteller

This contest is named in memory of David McCullough (1933–2022)—a Pulitzer Prize–winning historian and Gilder Lehrman Life Trustee—and honors his career telling America’s stories and examining its histories.

Learn more about his life and legacy

Congratulations to the 2024 Winners!

A panel of Gilder Lehrman master teachers selected the pool of finalists from 621 submissions, from which a jury of eminent historians selected the winners. A total of 252 schools participated in the 2024 competition from 38 US states, Washington DC, the US Virgin Islands, Canada, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Morocco, and North Macedonia. Essays were evaluated for their historical rigor, clarity, correctness of style, use of evidence, empathy, and imagination. 

2025 Contest

The 2025 David McCullough Essay Prize Contest will be launched on December 16, 2024. The essay prizes will follow the same structure and use the same rubrics as the 2024 contest. 

To assist students, teachers, and parents in their preparation, the Institute will host a Virtual Research Night aimed at supporting high school–level research. This program will be led by Professor Kenya Davis-Hayes from California Baptist University, a Scholar Judge for the prize, alongside staff from the Gilder Lehrman Institute. They will share valuable sources and strategies for effective research and writing. 

Additional details on submission guidelines and the date of the Virtual Research Night will be announced on December 16. Questions? Contact [email protected] .

Interpretive Category Essay Winners

Interpretive category, research category essay winners, research category, about the contest, essay types.

Interpretive Essay

Students are invited to submit an interpretive essay focusing on close reading and analysis of one primary source from American history, 1491 to 2001, in the Gilder Lehrman Collection of more than 86,000 historical documents.

Image: Letter from Edward Carrington to Henry Knox, March 13, 1788. (The Gilder Lehrman Institute, GLC02437.03821 )

Research Essay

Students are invited to submit a research essay incorporating primary and secondary sources on a topic in American history from 1491 to 2001.

Image: Edward George Renesch, Colored Man Is No Slacker , Chicago, 1918. (The Gilder Lehrman Institute, GLC06134 )

Eligibility

High school students attending schools in the Gilder Lehrman Affiliate School Program are eligible and encouraged to participate. They are invited to submit an original essay, written independently or for a current academic year class, that has been revised, expanded, and adapted to conform with the McCullough Prize specifications.

All participants will receive a certificate of participation suitable for framing. Prize winners in each of our two categories—research essays and interpretive essays—will receive cash awards as follows:

• 1st Prize: $5,000 (plus a $500 prize awarded to the school)
• 2nd Prize: $1,500 (plus a $500 prize awarded to the school)
• Five 3rd Prizes: $500 each

Font and Page Style

Papers should be submitted in 12-point, Times New Roman font with one-inch margins at the top, bottom, and sides. Essays should be free of teacher commentary or other notes.  

The accepted document types are PDF, DOC, DOCX, and ODT.

Organization

Top essays have an introduction, body, and conclusion and a clearly stated, well-developed thesis statement with supportive historical evidence.

A panel of Gilder Lehrman master teachers will choose the pool of finalists, from which a jury of eminent historians will choose the winners. Essays will be evaluated for their historical rigor, the clarity and correctness of their style, their use of evidence, and their qualities of empathy and imagination. 

We hold many rare copies of foundational American documents, like  this first draft of the US Constitution

Discover 2,000+ individuals who lived through the American Revolution, like the poet Phillis Wheatley .

Bring history to life with visual sources, like this US War Department recruitment poster  (ca. 1944–1945).

In addition to documents, the Collection includes objects, like this campaign button for Lyndon Johnson .

Our Collection highlights the contributions of many Americans, like those of a female pilot in the 1910s.

Explore the fight against slavery through abolitionist writings, like this note by Frederick Douglass .

Start Your Research Here 

Essays can be on any topic related to American history from 1491 to 2001. Essays in the interpretive category must feature a primary source (letter, broadside, art, political cartoon, speech, etc.) from the Gilder Lehrman Collection .

In 1991, Richard Gilder and Lewis Lehrman embarked on a mission to create one of the most important repositories of historical American documents in the country. Today, the Gilder Lehrman Collection contains  86,000+ items documenting the political, social, and economic history of the United States.

Explore the Collection

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