Student Contest

The Bill of Rights Institute hopes that you will encourage your students to enter this year’s We the Students essay contest. With the prompt “What is the relationship between equality and justice?” we challenge them to tell us what they think the relationship is between these two principles. To truly explore the question in an essay that is 500-800 words, students will need to go beyond “dictionary definitions” and express their understanding and reasoning about the connection between these two principles. This reasoning involves a combination of observation, experience, and some pretty “big ideas.” What does it take to understand them? To build toward and maintain them? To see them with regard to each other? Why is this relationship important? The 16 winners will receive a total of $20,000 in scholarship prizes. The deadline for submissions is April 15, 2021. Go here to learn more. Read More ⟶

Use this special DocsTeach page from the National Archives to help your students prepare for National History Day 2021. The theme this year is “Communication in History: The Key to Understanding.” Choose teaching activities to get them thinking about communication in history. Share primary sources for possible NHD topics. Find even more resources for National Read More ⟶

C-SPAN is pleased to announce StudentCam 2021, our annual video documentary competition! This year marks the 17th year of the contest, and we invite all middle school students (grades 6-8) and high school students (grades 9-12) to create a 5-6-minute documentary, based on the theme “Explore the issue you most want the president and new Congress to address in 2021.” C-SPAN awards a total of $100,000 in cash prizes! You will find a complete list of competition rules and documentary requirements, along with links to view past winning videos at studentcam.org. Read More ⟶