12th Annual Essay Contest

Essay Topic and Judging:

Eligible students (see contest rules and eligibility below) may enter the 2024 A Bridge for Kids Essay Contest by submitting an original essay of 750 words or fewer describing their thoughts on the following: What have you done in your life that you are the most proud of and how has this accomplishment impacted your life or the life of someone else? A panel of volunteers will judge the essays and the winners will be picked based on the essay's creativity, originality, clarity, and overall impact.

Note: The deadline for entry is midnight on March 1, 2024. Winners will be announced the week of April 15, 2024

2023 Contest Prizes:

1st Place - $2,500 sponsorship
2nd Place - $1,500 sponsorship
3rd-5th - $750 Amazon Gift Card
6th-10th - $500 Amazon Gift Card

Contest Eligibility and Rules:

· Contest is open to all High School students who currently meet income eligibility guidelines for the government-sponsored free and reduced lunch program.

· To apply, students must be currently enrolled in high school.

· Contestants are encouraged to discuss the essay topic with teachers, parents, or other friends but must write the essay by themselves, in his or her own words.

· Essays must be 750 words or less and double-spaced.

· All essays must be in digital form (Microsoft Word or Google Docs preferred). No PDFs scanned or mailed essays will be accepted. Essays should be sent via email only to info@abridgeforkids.org. The student must put his/her full name, current high school, and graduation year in both the Subject line of the email AND on their essay (ex. Tim Jones- San Diego High School- Class of 2027). This information must be on the essay or it will not be considered.

· Essays will be judged by a panel based on the essay's creativity, originality, clarity, and overall impact. Essays are judged blind, as all essays are assigned numbers and the panel will not have information (name, age, or school) on the author.

· All winners will be contacted during the week of April 15, 2024.

· The winner’s parent/ guardian must sign a photo release form before receiving their sponsorship.

To learn more about what is covered by A Bridge for Kids sponsorship please check out What We Do and Our Programs

Past Winners:

2023 Essay Contest Winner- Lina Vo, The Preuss School, UCSD
2022 Essay Contest Winner- Samantha Palmerin, Escondido Charter High School
2021 Essay Contest Winner- Safa Aw-Muhumed, Crawford High School
2020 Essay Contest Winner- Billy Nguyen, Lincoln High School
2019 Essay Contest Winner- Alexandra Morales, The Preuss School, UCSD
2018 Essay Contest Winner- Kevin Banks, Lincoln High School
2017 Essay Contest Winner- Jonathan Bojorquez, Helix High School
2016 Essay Contest Winner- Kiara Gomez, The Preuss School, UCSD
2015 Essay Contest Winner- Andria Montgomery, Patrick Henry High School
2014 Essay Contest Winner- Virginia Reyes, The Preuss School, UCSD
2013 Essay Contest Winner- Laura Castro, The Preuss School, UCSD