Middle and high school students are encouraged to enter the Nebraska Scholastic Writing Awards. The entry deadline for this year is December 15, 2021. Students in grades 7–12 between the ages of 13 and above residing in all 93 counties within the state of Nebraska are eligible.
Students are invited to submit original work in any of the Awards’ writing categories, including personal essay, journalism, flash fiction and poetry. For details on the program and how to submit writing, go to hastings.edu/writingawards.
“This is the third year we’ve sponsored the Scholastic Writing Awards, and look forward to reading through submitted works, as there are many wonderful, creative student writers in Nebraska,” said Dr. Patricia Oman, an associate professor of English. “The awards themselves are a great way to recognize and encourage creative student voices, and we’re excited to be part of the process.”
Hastings College and the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers encourage students to submit their work, and the two will provide support to educators, students and parents during the submission process.
Student entries will be judged by Hastings College faculty and students. Top recipients will be notified in January 2022 at the regional level and will be awarded an Honorable Mention, Silver Key or Gold Key distinction. Gold Key work will then advance to national adjudication to receive Gold Medals or Silver Medals. Top national award recipients may also receive scholarships, and educators of national award recipients may also receive cash awards.
The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards program was established in 1923 by Maurice R. Robinson, the founder of Scholastic Inc., identifies teenagers with exceptional artistic literary talent and brings their remarkable work to a national audience.
All works are blindly adjudicated based on originality, technical skill, and the emergence of personal vision or voice on a regional level by more than 100 local affiliates of the Alliance, and then nationally by a panel of industry experts.
Annually, the Alliance partners with individuals, foundations, and corporations to offer scholarship opportunities for students in certain categories or addressing particular themes. National Medalists’ works are then published in national publications and on the Alliance’s website, artandwriting.org. Select writing is published in The Best Teen Writing annual anthology.
The Alliance strives to teach young students to develop a strong creative capacity along with celebrating the role of art and literature in society.
Hastings College is a four-year residential college that focuses on student academic and extracurricular achievement. Hastings’ student-centered initiatives include providing books, an iPad and a two-week study away experience at no additional cost. A block-style semester schedule allows professors and students to focus on fewer classes at a time and promotes hands-on experiences. Discover more at hastings.edu.
