We inform college students that studying is its personal reward, and that’s actually true. But it surely’s additionally good to win cash and different prizes! Figuring out they might achieve recognition or perhaps a prize for successful will be extremely motivating. This roundup contains the very best contests and competitions for highschool, center college, and elementary college college students.
(Know of a scholar contest or competitors we should always add? Contact us right here.)
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Contests and Competitions for Excessive Faculty College students
FEATURED PICK
The Edit
The Edit is a digital storytelling problem from NBCU Academy and Adobe. Your center or highschool college students will construct crucial communication and collaboration expertise as they plan, script, and produce their very own 90-second video information stories on wellness subjects. Successful school rooms will likely be rewarded with prizes like GoPros, Fandango present playing cards, and extra!
AFSA Nationwide Excessive Faculty Essay Contest
If you happen to’re trying to assist college students take a deep dive into worldwide relations, historical past, and writing, look no additional than this essay contest. Winners obtain $2,500 plus full tuition to the Semester at Sea program in addition to a visit to Washington, D.C., to fulfill with a pacesetter on the Division of State.
All American Excessive Faculty Movie Pageant
Scholar movies have the chance to turn into an Official Choice, screened on the AMC Empire 25 Theatres in Instances Sq., the busiest movie show in America! Every October, 1000’s of scholar filmmakers collect in New York Metropolis for an action-packed weekend of sources and leisure, together with the Teen Indie Awards Present, the place over $500,000 in prizes and scholarships are handed out.
ArtEffect Mission
The ArtEffect Mission teaches center and highschool college students about their energy to impact optimistic change by means of artistic storytelling that celebrates unsung heroes from historical past. College students submit high-quality artistic artwork tasks within the visible arts, narrative movie, theater, and inventive nonfiction genres. Winners can obtain 1000’s of {dollars} in prizes.
Blue Ocean Competitors
Entrepreneurial highschool college students pitch their modern enterprise concepts to obtain suggestions from consultants, in addition to the prospect to win prize cash. Teenagers can enter on their very own or as a staff of as much as 4 folks.
Breakthrough Junior Problem
College students submit an enormous scientific concept in basic physics, life sciences, or arithmetic in video type. Winners obtain school scholarships, plus cash for his or her instructor and college.
BUILD’s Design Problem
College students in grades 7–12 use design pondering to create options to real-world challenges. On this 10-hour expertise, college students develop entrepreneurial expertise and empathy whereas studying about prototyping and testing.
Congressional Artwork Competitors
Every spring, the Congressional Institute sponsors a nationwide highschool visible arts competitors. Winners are acknowledged each of their district and at an annual awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. The successful works are displayed for one yr on the U.S. Capitol.
Conrad Problem
Design an innovation, remedy an essential drawback, and set up your self as an entrepreneur. You would possibly simply change the world within the course of! College students work in groups of two to 5 to compete for prizes reminiscent of scholarships, worldwide journeys, and extra.
C-SPAN’s StudentCam Competitors
This nationwide contest invitations all center and highschool college students to create a five-to-seven-minute documentary primarily based on an annual theme.
DECA Aggressive Occasions
DECA prepares rising leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in advertising and marketing, finance, hospitality, and administration. DECA’s aggressive occasions will be grouped into three broad classes: role-plays and case research, ready occasions, and on-line simulations. Occasions happen across the nation and all year long.
Worldwide Compost Consciousness Week Poster Contest
College students create a poster for Worldwide Compost Consciousness Week, which takes place in Might. The winner will get $500 and the prospect to see their poster produced professionally.
Jane Austen Essay Contest
Highschool college students can win as much as $1,000 in scholarship cash by writing an essay on a brand new Austen theme annually, sponsored by the Jane Austen Society of North America.
NAQT Quiz Bowl
Quiz Bowl is a fast-paced buzzer competitors during which groups of 4 gamers compete to reply questions that cowl tutorial topics like literature and science in addition to the broader world of standard tradition and present occasions. Native center college and highschool tournaments ship their winners on to regional and nationwide championships.
Nationwide Educational League
As center and highschool scholar groups compete to reply questions aligned to nationwide requirements, they have to additionally cooperate and use teamwork to sort out every quarter’s new problem. Every college can area a staff of 15 to 40 college students, giving a lot of youngsters an opportunity to take part.
Nationwide Historical past Day (NHD) Contest
Nationwide Historical past Day is an annual occasion for academics and college students in grades 6–12 that promotes crucial pondering expertise by means of project-based studying. College students start their journey by presenting their tasks in school rooms, faculties, and districts around the globe. Prime entries are invited to the state/affiliate-level contests. The highest two entries in each class on the state/affiliate stage are then invited to the Nationwide Contest.
Nationwide Younger Composers Problem
The problem is easy: First, college students write their very own composition for a small ensemble (two to 6 devices) or full orchestra. Then, a panel of judges chooses the highest three orchestral and high three ensemble compositions to be carried out and recorded by the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra on the NYCC Composium held in Orlando, Florida.
New York Instances Scholar Writing Contests
Every month, the New York Instances publicizes a brand new writing contest for center and highschool college students ages 13 to 19. The subjects and necessities are totally different every month, with one thing to enchantment to all types of younger authors and journalists.
PicoCTF Cybersecurity Competitors
PicoCTF is a pc safety sport for center and highschool college students. The sport consists of a collection of challenges centered round a novel storyline the place members should reverse-engineer, break, hack, decrypt, or do no matter it takes to unravel the problem. The challenges are all arrange with the intent of being hacked, making it a wonderful, authorized approach to get hands-on expertise.
Princeton 10-Minute Play Contest
On the lookout for scholar writing contests for budding playwrights? On this competitors, judged by the theater college of Princeton College, college students submit quick performs in an effort to win recognition and money prizes of as much as $500. (Observe: Solely open to eleventh graders.)
Samsung Remedy for Tomorrow
The Samsung Remedy for Tomorrow competitors invitations center and highschool academics to guide a gaggle of scholars in making a STEM-centered answer that addresses a necessity of their group. Lecturers and college students compete to win a share of $2 million for his or her faculties. The Nationwide Winner prize is $100,000 in expertise and classroom supplies.
Scholastic Artwork & Writing Awards
The nation’s longest-running, most prestigious recognition program for artistic teenagers (ages 13+, grades 7–12) awards scholarships and provides youngsters an opportunity to showcase their expertise for a number of the foremost leaders within the arts.
Area Settlement Design Competitions
These occasions emulate, as intently as doable for highschool college students, the experiences of working as members of aerospace design and proposal groups. College students study cooperation, administration, and communication expertise. Finalists win the prospect to journey to Kennedy Area Heart!
Stossel within the Classroom
Stossel within the Classroom needs to know what highschool and center college college students take into consideration entrepreneurship and innovation. With $20,000 in money prizes up for grabs, youngsters can enter the essay contest or the video contest. There are bonus prizes for academics too!
United States Educational Decathlon
America Educational Decathlon is a 10-event scholastic competitors for groups of highschool college students. Every highschool enters a staff of 9 college students: three honors college students (3.80–4.00 GPA), three scholastic college students (3.20–3.799 GPA), and three varsity college students (0.00–3.199 GPA). They’ll want all kinds of educational information and expertise to come back out on high!
U.S. Nationwide Chemistry Olympiad
This tiered competitors for highschool college students consists of a collection of chemistry exams. Native winners transfer on to the nationwide examination, whose winners take part in a examine camp and worldwide examination contest over the summer season.
World of 8 Billion Video Contest
Center and highschool college students create a brief video—as much as 60 seconds lengthy—about human inhabitants development that highlights one of many following international challenges: local weather change, gender equality, or waste. Youngsters can win as much as $1,200!
Contests and Competitions for Center Faculty College students
ArtEffect Mission
The ArtEffect Mission teaches center and highschool college students about their energy to impact optimistic change by means of artistic storytelling that celebrates unsung heroes from historical past. College students submit high-quality artistic artwork tasks within the visible arts, narrative movie, theater, and inventive nonfiction genres. Winners can obtain 1000’s of {dollars} in prizes.
BUILD’s Design Problem
College students in grades 7–12 use design pondering to create options to real-world challenges. On this 10-hour expertise, college students develop entrepreneurial expertise and empathy whereas studying about prototyping and testing.
C-SPAN’s StudentCam Competitors
This nationwide contest invitations all center and highschool college students to create a five-to-seven-minute documentary primarily based on an annual theme.
Future Metropolis Competitors
Future Metropolis is a project-based studying program during which college students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades think about, analysis, design, and construct cities of the longer term.
The Hardest Math Downside
This contest challenges college students in grades 5–8 to apply crucial pondering supported by correct computation. Each youngsters and their academics are eligible for prizes.
NAQT Quiz Bowl
Quiz Bowl is a fast-paced buzzer competitors during which groups of 4 gamers compete to reply questions that cowl tutorial topics like literature and science in addition to the broader world of standard tradition and present occasions. Native center college and highschool tournaments ship their winners on to regional and nationwide championships.
Nationwide Educational League
As center and highschool scholar groups compete to reply questions aligned to nationwide requirements, they have to additionally cooperate and use teamwork to sort out every quarter’s new problem. Every college can area a staff of 15 to 40 college students, giving a lot of youngsters an opportunity to take part.
Nationwide Historical past Day (NHD) Contest
Nationwide Historical past Day is an annual occasion for academics and college students in grades 6–12 that promotes crucial pondering expertise by means of project-based studying. College students start their journey by presenting their tasks in school rooms, faculties, and districts around the globe. Prime entries are invited to the state/affiliate-level contests. The highest two entries in each class on the state/affiliate stage are then invited to the Nationwide Contest.
New Moon Ladies
New Moon Ladies publishes contributions from ladies ages 8–14. The journal publishes 4 occasions annually, and submissions usually tend to be revealed in the event that they match an upcoming editorial theme.
New York Instances Scholar Writing Contests
Every month, the New York Instances publicizes a brand new writing contest for center and highschool college students ages 13 to 19. The subjects and necessities are totally different every month, with one thing to enchantment to all types of younger authors and journalists.
Ocean Consciousness Contest
College students ages 11 to 18 can study environmental points by means of art-making and inventive communication, discover their relationship to a altering world, and turn into advocates for optimistic change. Submit a chunk recognizing local weather change heroes, utilizing visible arts, poetry and inventive writing, movie, performing arts, or multimedia. Prizes embody money awards and eligibility for particular alternatives.
PicoCTF Cybersecurity Competitors
PicoCTF is a pc safety sport for center and highschool college students. The sport consists of a collection of challenges centered round a novel storyline the place members should reverse-engineer, break, hack, decrypt, or do no matter it takes to unravel the problem. The challenges are all arrange with the intent of being hacked, making it a wonderful, authorized approach to get hands-on expertise.
Promising Younger Writers Program
Lecturers and faculties can nominate eighth grade college students to compete on this contest. Nominees submit an editorial primarily based on the yr’s immediate. Winners obtain certificates in varied ranges of distinction.
Ranger Rick Photograph Contest
Youngsters 13 and underneath can enter any nature-themed picture they’ve taken on their very own utilizing a digicam or telephone digicam app. Each month, winners will likely be chosen by the judges and posted on the competition homepage within the Current Contest Winners slideshow. On-line winners will likely be within the working for Ranger Rick’s “Your Finest Pictures” Journal Award. Journal Award winners will likely be chosen thrice annually for publication in Ranger Rick journal’s December–January, April, and August points.
Rubber Band Contest
This contest challenges college students in grades 5–8 to design and create a working invention/art work that comes with no less than one rubber band. College students can compete in certainly one of two separate divisions: Arts & Leisure or Science & Engineering. Winners obtain as much as $300.
Samsung Remedy for Tomorrow
The Samsung Remedy for Tomorrow competitors invitations center and highschool academics to guide a gaggle of scholars in making a STEM-centered answer that addresses a necessity of their group. Lecturers and college students compete to win a share of $2 million for his or her faculties. The Nationwide Winner prize is $100,000 in expertise and classroom supplies.
Scholastic Artwork & Writing Awards
The nation’s longest-running, most prestigious recognition program for artistic teenagers (ages 13+, grades 7–12) awards scholarships and provides youngsters an opportunity to showcase their expertise for a number of the foremost leaders within the arts.
Stossel within the Classroom
Stossel within the Classroom needs to know what highschool and center college college students take into consideration entrepreneurship and innovation. With $20,000 in money prizes up for grabs, youngsters can enter the essay contest or the video contest. There are bonus prizes for academics too!
World of 8 Billion Video Contest
Center and highschool college students create a brief video—as much as 60 seconds lengthy—about human inhabitants development that highlights one of many following international challenges: local weather change, gender equality, or waste. Youngsters can win as much as $1,200!
Younger Scientist Problem
College students in grades 5–8 create a one-to-two-minute video describing a brand new, modern answer that would remedy an on a regular basis drawback. Ten finalists will likely be chosen for his or her ardour for science, spirit of innovation and ingenuity, and efficient communication expertise.
YouthPLAYS Potential Authors
Authors 19 and underneath can submit a one-act play to the New Voices competitors. They’re significantly concerned with performs that talk to BIPOC teenagers and youth.
Contests and Competitions for Elementary Faculty College students
Doodle for Google
Do you know that every yr, one scholar in grades Ok–5 has an opportunity to see their very own doodle featured on the Google search web page? This annual contest provides youngsters the chance to succeed in thousands and thousands of viewers with their design.
New Moon Ladies
New Moon Ladies publishes contributions from ladies ages 8 to 14. The journal publishes 4 occasions annually, and submissions usually tend to be revealed in the event that they match an upcoming editorial theme.
Ranger Rick Photograph Contest
Youngsters 13 and underneath can enter any nature-themed picture they’ve taken on their very own, utilizing a digicam or telephone digicam app. Each month, judges choose winners and submit them on the competition homepage within the Current Contest Winners slideshow. On-line winners will likely be within the working for Ranger Rick’s “Your Finest Pictures” Journal Award. Journal Award winners will likely be chosen thrice annually for publication in Ranger Rick journal’s December–January, April, and August points.
Contests and Competitions for College students of All Ages
Celebrating Artwork
This contest is open to Ok–12 college students attending public faculties, homeschool, and artwork studios. Youngsters and academics can win prizes, classroom provides, and extra!
Constituting America: We the Future
College students can win scholarship cash by submitting an entry to this annual contest, and academics can too! There are a number of classes with particular prompts for every, together with songs, essays, STEM tasks, and extra. Lecturers obtain a $50 Amazon present card when no less than 10 of their college students submit an entry.
Discovery Award
The Lowell Milken Heart for Unsung Heroes Discovery Award offers college students in grades 4–12 a novel alternative to analysis main sources and develop excellent tasks that function unsung heroes who can function position fashions and encourage others to create change.
EngineerGirl Writing Contest
Annually, EngineerGirl sponsors an essay contest with subjects centered on the affect of engineering on the world. College students can win as much as $500 in prize cash. This contest is a pleasant bridge between ELA and STEM and nice for academics concerned with incorporating an interdisciplinary mission into their curriculum. It’s open to college students in grades 3 and up.
Invention Conference
The Invention Conference program is a Ok–12 project-based studying curriculum that helps college students study to suppose critically and establish issues of their world. Inventors and entrepreneurs are invited to compete at prestigious annual occasions.
NASA CineSpace Brief Movie Competitors
Rivals submit a brief movie impressed by, and utilizing, precise footage from NASA’s digital archives for an opportunity to earn money prizes and have their movie screened on the Houston Cinema Arts Pageant, held every November. Though entrants should be no less than 18 to enter, dad and mom and guardians can enter submissions on behalf of their youthful kids.
NASA Langley Scholar Artwork Contest
The competition is open to all Ok–12 college students attending public, non-public, parochial, and residential faculties who’re residents of america, and grades Ok–12 of U.S. army members stationed abroad.
Nationwide Historical past Bowl
The Nationwide Historical past Bowl is a buzzer-based historical past quiz competitors for groups of as much as six college students ages 19 or youthful. Native competitions ship their winners on to compete within the nationwide championships.
Nationwide PTA Reflections Awards
College students of all ages create and submit authentic artworks within the areas of dance choreography, movie manufacturing, literature, music composition, images, and visible arts. Native winners transfer on to the regional, state, and nationwide ranges. Nationwide-level awards embody an $800 prize and a visit to the Nationwide PTA Conference.
90-Second Newbery Movie Pageant
The 90-Second Newbery Movie Pageant is an annual video contest for younger filmmakers. They will create films that inform your complete story of a Newbery award–successful e book in about 90 seconds. Successful entries are screened at occasions nationwide together with in New York, Chicago, and Boston.
Scope Writing Contests
Scope journal (revealed by Scholastic) options all kinds of contests to excite college students in grades 4–12 about writing. Plus they will win superior prizes!
Scripps Nationwide Spelling Bee
Is the nation’s subsequent spelling champion in your individual classroom? Discover out by holding your individual spelling bee, then sending the winner on to compete in regional competitions resulting in the final word nationwide competitors. College students as much as age 16 are eligible to take part.
SIBA Invention Competitors
The Scholar Concepts for a Higher America contest welcomes functions from pre-Ok by means of twelfth grade. Enter any concept for a brand new approach to exhibit an academic idea, an concept for a brand new product, or an enchancment for an current product or process.
Telling Room Founders Prize
College students ages 6–18 can submit fiction, nonfiction, and poetry to The Telling Room. Annually, they award the Founders Prize to the very best piece of writing to come back out of a Telling Room program.
Make sure to obtain your free five-paragraph essay planners!
Assist your college students prep for essay contests with this bundle of free graphic organizers. From a “blueprint” define to detailed drafts, this assortment of printable worksheets will assist youngsters craft award-winning essays.
