2006 Idea of America Essay Contest

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) invites all eligible high school juniors to enter the 2006 Idea of America Essay Contest, which begins today. Open to 11th-grade students and 16- and 17-year-old home-schooled students, the 2006 Idea of America Essay Contest offers a cash prize of $5,000 to the author of the winning essay. Three national finalists will each receive cash prizes of $1,000. The deadline for entries is April 19, 2006.

As part of NEH's We the People initiative, the Idea of America Essay Contest encourages students to think and write analytically about significant events and individuals in American history.

"The Idea of America Essay Contest encourages young writers to examine and analyze the defining principles of our nation," said NEH Chairman Bruce Cole. "Those who participate will strengthen their sense of citizenship and deepen their understanding of the American story—a story of ordinary men and women and their extraordinary deeds in pursuit of great ideas and ideals, such as those articulated in the First Amendment."

For the 2006 contest, students will be asked to write an essay that examines the historical debate in the nation's First Congress over the benefits and disadvantages of adopting the First Amendment.

Visit contest's website