Awards

For Students: Frequently Asked Questions

Are you a student who wants to be nominated for the Promising Young Writers Awards?

NCTE encourages students to share information on the Promising Young Writers Awards with their educators.

Question: Can I nominate myself?

Answer: Students may not self-nominate.

Question: Who can nominate me?

Answer: Students must be nominated by an educator. This is most often their current ELA teacher, but it can be a recent ELA teacher, a tutor, etc. Parents may serve as nominators if and only if they are the student’s ELA educator.

Question: How do I ask an educator to nominate me?

Answer: Either in person or via email, share that you’re interested in writing a response to this year’s prompt. If you already have a draft, you may share that with your educator. If your potential nominator isn’t familiar with the award, show them the general award page, as well as the page with award and eligibility details.

Ask that they verify your eligibility and if they are willing to complete the nomination form on your behalf. NCTE also strongly encourages asking educators to provide feedback on at least one draft of your writing, but this is not required for nomination.

Question: I have a nominator. Now what?

Answer: Ideally, your nominator will provide feedback to you throughout the writing process. This will look different for every student.

Once you have a final draft, you will create a PDF of your work. The PDF’s file name should be your name, and the only identifying information in the file should be your name (do not include school name, educator name, etc.).

Once you have created the PDF, share it with your nominator. Your nominator can then complete the nomination form, which is expected to be available by the end of October. Nominators may sign up to receive email alerts and reminders here.

Steps for completing the nomination form:

1. Nominators will sign in to their NCTE account, or create a free account if they don’t already have one.
2. Once signed in, nominators will click on the nomination form that is linked from the award’s main page from the time that it becomes available through the February 15 deadline.
3. Nominators will be asked to verify that they have reviewed the eligibility details and that those details are met.
4. The nominator will enter the basic information requested in the form, such as contact information, basic school information, etc. They will also upload a PDF with the student’s final draft.
5. They will review the form and click “Submit.”

Question: Once I’ve been nominated, what happens?

Answer: Nominations are assigned to judges, who score them in the late winter and spring. Nominating educators are notified of the results via email in May of the award year. Results are not shared directly with students.