Who can nominate a young person
Entrants can be nominated by any adult (including teachers, mentors, agency staff, youth workers, religious leaders, foster parents, biological parents). The adult must write a letter of recommendation for the young person. Adults should nominate young people who have shown resilience, helped others, and achieved personal and academic success. Each nominator may nominate one young person.
Who is eligible to be nominated
Any current or former foster youth in the New York City foster care system who was born in 2000 or later. People born before 2000 are not eligible. Winners from 2019 and 2020 and Grand Prize winners from 2018 or earlier are not eligible.
How the winners will be selected
A judging committee will read all entries and choose the winners. The decision of the judges is final.
|
Essays
Entrants must write two essays. The first essay must be no more than 1,000 words. The second essay must be no more than 500 words. If your essays are too long it will count against you. (A very short essay won’t win either.)
Essay Questions
1) Share a struggle you faced during the pandemic that you had some success in overcoming. Describe your process, including any help you got or gave as you figured out how to adjust and cope. What did you learn about yourself and the people around you? And finally, as we return to normal, how can you adapt what you’ve learned to non-pandemic life?
2) Describe a time when you did something that you felt made a positive impact on someone else. Why was it important to the person you helped? To you? (This can include helping siblings, volunteering, or any other time when you went out of your way to help someone else.) |
|
