• Can you tell a meaningful and interesting true story from your life in just 100 words? That's the challenge we're posing to YOU. 

• While this contest is not currently open (contest dates below), for inspiration read the work of last year's winners or follow this step-by-step guide for participating. 

Contest Dates: October 4 - November 2023

Teenagers as Critics

(Review Contest)

• Review a book, movie, restaurant, album, theatrical production, video game, dance, TV show or art exhibition, with advice from New York Times critics to help.

• This year’s rules and guidelines will follow last year’s with one big change: Anything you choose to review must have debuted this year. (That means not that you watched a movie, read a book or heard an album for the first time this year, but that the work premiered in 2023.)

• To see how it’s done, take a look at the work of last year’s winners and visit the related writing unit.

Contest Dates: November 1 - December 6, 2023

Thinking Made Visible

(One-Pager Challenge)

We’re once again ending the fall semester with an invitation that we hope is accessible and fun for students across the curriculum: Make a one-pager in response to any article, video, graph, photo essay or podcast published in The New York Times in 2023 (or early 2024).

The rules and guidelines will stay largely the same as last year’s. Let our step-by-step guide walk you through the process, and the work of these winners inspire you. To help you find content you will enjoy, we will also publish a collection of free links to over 75 pieces about young people published across sections of NYTimes.com this fall.

Contest Dates: December 6 2023 - January 10, 2024

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.

• 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.

• We’ll be publishing more materials soon, but until then, check out both the Tip column and our lesson plan that breaks its formula down. For advice on finding topics and experts, read this piece from Times Insider about how the column is constructed.

Contest Dates: January - February 14, 2024

Where We Are

(Photos 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 five to seven images with captions and a short introduction. Stay tuned for a related teaching guide, but to see some stunning examples, scroll through the series and explore pieces like this one about Black debutantes, this one about a Texas campus ministry, this one about band kids or this one about a Korean American youth camp.

Contest Dates: February 14 - March 13, 2024

Playing With Words

(Vocabulary Video Contest)

• Produce a 15-second video about the meaning of one of our Words of the Day.

• Here are last year’s rules and guidelines, which will stay the same except for one detail: You can work only with words published in our W.O.T.D. column after June 1, 2023.

• For inspiration, take a look at the work of past winners.

Contest Dates: February 28 - March 27, 2024

Open Letters

(Opinion Writing Contest)

• Our Student Editorial Contest ran for a decade, and we received truly extraordinary work, but it’s time for a refresh. This year, we’re asking you to draw on the same skills and passions to make your case, but this time in the form of an open letter.

• An open letter is a published letter of protest or appeal usually addressed to an individual but intended for the general public. Martin Luther King’s Letter From Birmingham Jail, the recent letter signed by over 1,000 tech leaders about the dangers of A.I. and this funny 2020 letter addressed to Harry and Meghan are all examples of this rich tradition.

• Just as we did for the Editorial Contest, we invite you to make an argument in 450 words about something that matters to you, and persuade us that we should care, too. But this time, you must address yourself to a specific target audience or recipient, institution or group — one that has the power to make meaningful change.

• Whether you choose your parents, teachers, school board members or mayor; a member of Congress; the head of a corporation; or a metonym like “Silicon Valley” or “The Kremlin,” ask yourself, What do I care about? Who can make changes, big or small, local or global, to address my issue or problem? What specifically do I want them to understand and do? And how can I write this as an “open letter,” meaningful not just to me and the recipient, but to a general audience?

• More information will be published soon. Until then, you can find ideas and inspiration in our related writing unit and via the work of past Editorial winners.

Contest Dates: March 13 - April 17, 2024

Audio Stories

(Podcast Contest)

• Make an original podcast of five minutes or less that informs or entertains listeners.

• Here are last year’s rules and guidelines, which will stay largely the same. For inspiration, listen to the work of past winners and visit the related writing unit.

Contest Dates: April 17- May 15, 2024

Voice & Choice

(Summer Reading Contest)

• As we have for 14 years now, we’ll be asking you to tell us what got your attention in The Times and why. But this year, each week we’ll invite you to tell us in a different way.

• What will that look like? Every Friday for 10 weeks, we’ll post a new invitation, like this one — except that some weeks, we’ll ask for written responses, while other weeks, we’ll ask for video, audio or visual reactions of some kind.

• We’ll publish more details in the spring, but the essence of the contest will stay the same, as will most of the rules and guidelines. For inspiration, take a look at the work of past winners and the related writing unit.

Contest Dates: June 7 - August 16, 2024

• The John Hopkins Center for Talented Youth brings together the brightest minds of the next generation for an unparalleled academic challenge.

• Take charge of your learning online, immerse yourself in summer academics, or explore subjects with the whole family. 

  • • Learning pathways for grades 2-12.

    • Online courses available worldwide.

    • Summer Programs sites across the U.S. and in Hong Kong

• Summer Institute for the Gifted provides summer academic enrichment programs for gifted, academically talented, creative, and high potential students in grades K-12.

• SIG is a place where gifted students can be themselves; it is a place of exploration, laughter, potential, creativity, innovation, and fun on a variety of prestigious campuses, that you can choose from!

• The 2022 APPLICATION IS NOW OPEN- Apply Now!!

Northwestern provides unique programs to develop unique talents! These programs are designed to meet their needs, providing the right challenge and support to develop their talents fully. Explore what CTD has to offer:

• Research-driven programming that supplements regular schooling

• Hundreds of courses in nearly every subject

• Dedicated, expert educators who fuel a love of learning

• Advanced classes that provide enrichment and acceleration

• Program models that fit a variety of schedules and educational goals

• Resources and support services for families and educators