Academic contests can be powerful outside evidence of student accomplishments and learning. Remember that most contests run on the academic year with registration in the fall and winners announced in the early spring. If you find that there are no current contests when you check, please check back in the fall for the new deadlines.
Celebrate The West High School Art Competition
Deadline: Apr 01, 2026 (Annual contest)
Celebrate the West is a regional art competition hosted by the Western Governors' Association that challenges high school students to create works inspired by their state. The entry deadline is April 1, 2026. Students are welcome to submit artwork used for other contests or assignments. Students' artwork will be returned, and shipping will be paid for by WGA. It is easy to enter! Students only need to email a photograph of their artwork along with the entry form found on the website. Western Governors' Association: 720-939-0444
(No information found about previous winners.)
EngineerGirl Writing Contest
Deadline: Feb 01, 2026 (Annual contest)
Every year, the EngineerGirl website sponsors a contest dealing with engineering and its impact on our world. The topic and detailed instructions for the contest are posted in September, with a deadline for submissions on February 1st of the following year. Winners are announced in the summer. There are three basic rules. 1. Your main character must be female. 2. Your main character must use engineering design principles to solve a problem - she cannot use or rely on magic or supernatural powers. 3. Your story must be under the word limit for your grade level. Elementary (grades 3-5): 800 words. Middle School (grades 6-8): 1100 words. High School (grades 9-12): 1500 words. All stories must be original work. Any evidence of plagiarism will immediately disqualify an entry.
(No information found about previous winners.)
Science Olympiad
Deadline: Dec 31, 2025 (Annual contest)
The Science Olympiad tournaments are rigorous academic interscholastic competitions. The competitions follow the format of popular board games, TV shows and athletic games. Teams start each fall.
(Previous winners)
You Be The Chemist Challenge
Deadline: Dec 31, 2025 (Annual contest)
The You Be The Chemist (YBTC) Challenge is an interactive academic competition that engages grade 5?8 students in learning with their peers (and their community!) about important chemistry concepts, scientific discoveries, and laboratory safety. The Challenge is similar in format to spelling bee/quiz bowl competitions but engages participating students in the study of chemistry. The YBTC Challenge is organized into three competitive levels: local, state, and national. Local Challenges take place in communities nationwide through the collaborative efforts of industry, educators, and other community volunteers. Challenges begin in the fall of each school year.
(No information found about previous winners.)
Poetry Out Loud
Deadline: Dec 31, 2025 (Annual contest)
Through this program, high school students across the country participate in a dynamic poetry recitation competition that is designed to improve their public speaking skills, help build confidence, and teach them about literary history and contemporary life. A partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Poetry Foundation, and state and jurisdictional arts agencies, Poetry Out Loud provides free lesson plans and other educational materials to teachers and organizers, including an online anthology of 1,200 classic and contemporary poems. The program starts at the local level with a school or participating organization. Winners then may advance to a regional and/or state competition, and ultimately to the national finals. Awards and placements are determined solely by judges' scores based on the Poetry Out Loud Evaluation Criteria. Poetry Out Loud takes place in all 50 states, American Samoa, District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Homeschooled students may participate by competing in a competition at a local school (at the school's discretion) or with other local homeschooled students.
(No information found about previous winners.)
Creative Communication Poetry Contests
Deadline: Dec 31, 2025 (Annual contest)
Enter the poetry contests and get published. Entries must be from students in 9th grade or lower living in the United States. Three poetry contests a year. Entries can be submitted at any time.
(Previous winners)
Team America Rocketry Challenge
Deadline: Dec 01, 2025 (Annual contest)
The American Rocketry Challenge is the world's largest student rocket contest and a key piece of the aerospace and defense industry's strategy to build a stronger U.S. workforce in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) and the National Association of Rocketry (NAR), the contest was created in the fall of 2002 as a one-time celebration of the Centennial of Flight, but by popular demand, became an annual program. Registration begins annually in September.
(No information found about previous winners.)
The Congressional Seminar Essay Contest
Deadline: Dec 01, 2025 (Annual contest)
The Congressional Seminar Essay contest is open to students in grades 10,11, 12. The students will write an essay on a specific topic each year. This essay contest is a major project of the NSCDA, held under the auspices of the Washington Workshops Foundation, a private nonprofit educational program in American government for high school students. Winners receive full tuition, including seminar materials, university campus housing, and two meals daily, for a week of citizenship education about the national government, plus fun, new friends, and tours of sites in our nation's capital. Students may apply online at nscda.org (click on student resources, then click on Congressional Essay Contest). Essays are due by Dec. 1.
(No information found about previous winners.)
VFW Youth Scholarships
Deadline: Oct 31, 2025 (Annual contest)
The Voice of Democracy audio-essay program provides high school students with the unique opportunity to express themselves in regards to a democratic and patriotic-themed recorded essay. The national first-place winner receives a $35,000 scholarship paid directly to the recipient's American university, college, or vocational/technical school. A complete list of other national scholarships range from $1,000-$21,000, and the first-place winner from each VFW Department (state) wins at least a scholarship of $1,000. The VFW's Patriot's Pen youth essay contest gives middle school students a chance to win their share of nearly $1 million in state and national awards. Each first-place state winner receives a minimum of $500 at the national level, and the national first-place winner wins $5,000! The essay contest encourages young minds to examine America's history, along with their own experiences in modern American society, by drafting a 300- to 400-word essay, expressing their views based on a patriotic theme chosen by the VFW Commander-in-Chief.
(No information found about previous winners.)
Good Life Award Writing Contest
Deadline: Oct 08, 2025 (Annual contest)
Writing contest for grades 7-9. A contest for students to share ideas about living a life that is fun, purposeful, and happy. Honoring the life of Dottie Yeck, a champion of children, who believed that one is never too young to have an impact on the world. Entrants must live or attend school in Montgomery County, Ohio. Contest open in September annually. Deadline is October annually.
(Previous winners)
Optimist International Scholarship Contests
Deadline: Sep 30, 2025 (Annual contest)
Optimist International sponsors three scholarship contests for students to earn money to pursue opportunities in higher education: the Communication Contest for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (CCDHH), the Essay Contest, and the Oratorical Contest. The contests are conducted at the Club level, then Zone and Regional (if necessary), and at the District level. District-level scholarships are funded by the Optimist International Foundation and awarded by Optimist International.
(No information found about previous winners.)
Math Contests - Homeschool Division
Deadline: Apr 25, 2025 (Annual contest)
The goal of the competition is to encourage students' interest in math, to inspire students to excel in math, and to convey the message to young students: It is COOL to be good at math! The contest is for students in elementary and middle school. Any teacher from a public school or a private school is welcome to register their students. If homeschool students are unable to join a school team, they can register as individuals.
(No information found about previous winners.)
The Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program
Deadline: Mar 15, 2025 (Annual contest)
An educational arts and science program teaching students in grades K - 12 the importance of conservation, waterfowl, and wetlands. State art contests are held annually from February to April. Submit your Junior Duck Stamp entry to your state contest by the state's deadline. All entries must be postmarked by March 15, except: California, Maryland and South Dakota (entries postmarked by February 1) Massachusetts (entries postmarked by February 15), Idaho, Maine, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia (entries postmarked by March 1).
(No information found about previous winners.)
Alaska Migratory Bird Calendar Contest
Deadline: Mar 07, 2025 (Annual contest)
The Alaska Migratory Bird Calendar Contest is a statewide poster and literature competition. The purpose of the contest is to encourage local students to learn about bird conservation. K-12 students (public, private or home-schooled) residing in or adjacent to the North Slope Borough and the following National Wildlife Refuges: Yukon Delta, Togiak, Izembek, Alaska Maritime, Alaska Peninsula/Becharof, Selawik, Innoko, Tetlin, Kodiak, Koyukuk/Nowitna.
(Previous winners)
ExploraVision
Deadline: Feb 03, 2025 (Annual contest)
ExploraVision is a science competition that encourages K-12 students of all interest, skill, and ability levels to create and explore a vision of future technology by combining their imaginations with the tools of science. All inventions and innovations result from creative thinking and problem-solving. The competition is open to students enrolled in public, private, or home schools in the United States and Canada. Project deadline is February 7.
(No information found about previous winners.)
Association of Women in Math Essay Contest
Deadline: Feb 01, 2025 (Annual contest)
Biographies of Contemporary Women in Mathematics. Open to students in grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, and College Undergraduates. Opens annually in January. Submission Period. December 1 - February 1 through MathPrograms.org. Submissions for the 2026 contest will open on December 1, 2025.
(Previous winners)
C-SPAN StudentCam
Deadline: Jan 20, 2025 (Annual contest)
StudentCam is C-SPAN's annual national video documentary competition that encourages students to think critically about issues that affect our communities and our nation. This year students in grades 6-12 are asked to create a short (5-6 minute) video documentary on a topic related to the competition theme, "If you were a newly elected member of Congress, which issue would be your first priority and why?"
(Previous winners)
Profile in Courage Essay Contest
Deadline: Jan 17, 2025 (Annual contest)
The annual John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Essay Contest invites high school students from across the nation to write an original essay about an elected official who has demonstrated political courage. The contest is a companion program of the Profile in Courage Award, named for President Kennedy's 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Profiles in Courage, which recounts the stories of eight senators, the obstacles they faced, and the special valor they demonstrated despite the risks.
(No information found about previous winners.)
