Achievement Awards in Writing
Contest now open! Nominate* your student(s) today!
*Please note that nominating educators must log in to their NCTE accounts to access the nomination form. An NCTE account is free to create and is not tied to NCTE membership. Don’t have an account? Create one here.
- Changes to the award that began with the 2023 cycle are can be found here.
- Review the Eligibility, Award Specifics, and Writing Instructions.
- View this year’s prompt.
Deadline: February 15, 2025
Purpose: To encourage high school sophomores and juniors to write and to publicly recognize the best student writing.
- Schools in the United States, Canada, Virgin Islands and American Schools Abroad are eligible to nominate juniors, and beginning with the 2023 contest, sophomores. Nominating schools must be US accredited.
- STARTING IN 2023: Participating students submit themed writing. Beginning with the 2023 contest, participants will no longer submit “best” writings.
- Electronic submissions only.
Please email studentwriting@ncte.org with any questions.
Timeline:
August 12, 2024: 2025 contest prompt is released.
Until November 13: Present the prompt to your students. Encourage them to gather their thoughts and ideas and to write their first draft
November 13-February 15: Submitting teachers may nominate their students via the application form that will be available from this webpage.
DEADLINE for All Submissions: February 15
*Late submissions will not be accepted.
Below are some exemplars of award-winning submissions from 2020. These students received 100% scores from each judge who read their pieces and had high praise for the quality of writing.
Caroline Johnston (Judges said, “This writer has an incredible command of language. Her imagery, her metaphors, her rhythms are beautiful.”)
Pedro Juan Orduz (Judges said, “This young writer communicates astoundingly well. His writing resounds with authenticity and voice, grabs the reader’s attention and holds it until the very last word and leaves the reader wanting more. Outstanding work and a joy to read.”)
Grace Ma (Judges said, “The writer has an incredible voice and a command of pacing and character development far beyond her years.”
*These examples are meant to be used as inspiration to teachers and their students for the purposes of this award and to showcase the excellent work of these students. Please do not share or copy these students’ work improperly.*
The recipients of the First Class designation are listed by state below.
2024 Award Winners
This year, schools nominated 633 students to participate in the Achievement Awards in Writing Program. From the United States, students were nominated from 44 states, as well as Guam and Washington, D.C. Internationally, teachers nominated students from Canada, Greece, Jordan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.
*No First Class recipients
North Dakota*
Oklahoma*
Oregon*
Rhode Island*
South Carolina*
South Dakota*
The recipients of the Certificate of Superior Writing/First Class designation are listed by state below.
2023 Award Winners
This year, schools nominated 360 students to participate in the Achievement Awards in Writing Program. Of those, 114 were selected to receive the First Class designation, 131 received the Superior designation, 71 received the Excellent designation, and 31 received the Merit designation. Papers were judged on content, purpose, audience, tone, word choice, organization, development, and style.
*No First Class recipients
North Dakota*
Rhode Island*
South Carolina*
South Dakota*
2022 Award Winners
This year, 266 juniors were nominated. Of that number, 79 received Certificates for Superior Writing and 187 received Certificates of Nomination. Each student submitted two pieces of writing, which were read by national judges. Papers were judged on expression of ideas, language use and unique perspective and voice.
*No winners
North Dakota*
Oregon*
Rhode Island*
South Dakota*
2021 Award Winners
This year, 284 students were nominated. Of that number, 136 received Certificates for Superior Writing and 148 received Certificates of Nomination. Each student submitted two pieces of writing, which were read by national judges. Papers were judged on content, purpose, audience, tone, word choice, organization, development, and style.
*No winners
North Dakota*
Oregon*
Rhode Island*
South Dakota*