Contest Open Date: December 1, 2024

Deadline: March 15, 2025

Eligibility: 9-12th graders who attend a Florida high school or are homeschooled.

Submissions: To register and submit, please complete the following form (apply.ncf.edu/register/civics). For questions, please email america250@ncf.edu. 

On July 4th, 2026, our great American nation will celebrate our 250th birthday.  Those of us old enough to have lived during the bicentennial remember it as an uplifting, unifying expression of patriotism.  Sad to say, our upcoming milestone does not yet have the same feel.  Let’s change that!  Let’s see our upcoming milestone an opportunity to unify Americans behind America. 

Genuine, positive patriotism requires an informed citizenry, and an informed citizenry cannot arise without a commitment to civic education.  At New College of Florida, we take that commitment seriously.

That’s why we’re reaching out to Florida’s High School students with an invitation to enter our first civics writing contest.

The rules are simple.  Pick your favorite line from the Declaration of Independence, provision of the Constitution, or any of the first fifteen amendments.  Tell us what made it important when it was passed, how it retains that importance today, and how you hope to see it secure our liberty in the future.

Good luck!

Prizes: Judges will select first, second, and third-prize winners in each genre as well as finalists.

First Prize: $600
Second Prize: $300
Third Prize: $100
Five Finalists: $50 each

All qualifying entrants will be invited to participate in a Civics workshop on the New college campus during the Spring or Summer of 2025. 

Winners and finalists will have their work collected and published. 

In addition, winners and finalists are eligible for full- and partial-tuition undergraduate college scholarships. Winners who apply, are admitted, and enroll at New College will receive a full-tuition scholarship. Finalists who apply, are admitted, and enroll at New College will receive a 50% tuition scholarship.

Submission Guidelines/Process:

Teachers are also welcome to submit entries on current or former students’ behalf with student’s permission (teachers must indicate that they are doing so through the submission platform), though students do not need to have a “sponsoring” teacher for their submission.

Students do not need to have taken, and need not be enrolled, in any particular courses to enter the contest.  

Contest entries must be in English.

Submissions must be in .doc, .docx, .pdf, or .rtf format and contain a cover page with student’s name, date of birth, high school, and submission genre. Google Docs are not accepted.