ADL Student Essay Contest: A Tribute to Moral Courage: Standing Up Against Injustice

  • January 29, 2024

A Tribute to Moral Courage: Standing Up Against Injustice
Student Essay Contest

2024 ESSAY CONTEST IS BACK!!

Submissions due March 29, 2024

ADL’s A Tribute to Moral Courage: Standing Up Against Injustice student essay contest inspires educators, students and families/caregivers to research moral courage to find the very best in humanity! We all need the motivation to remember those ordinary people who take extraordinary actions for the good of others because it inspires us to find those characteristics within ourselves.

SHARE THIS ESSAY CONTEST with your students, your children or grandkids in your life, your youth groups and sports teams to encourage and build student leaders! There are remarkable examples throughout history and in more contemporary times of those fighting for a cause that creates justice, builds empathy and promotes compassion for all of us.

This essay contest uses the history of the Holocaust to educate students about the ramifications of present-day stereotyping, prejudice, racism and antisemitism. The Holocaust provides a context for exploring the dangers of remaining indifferent and silent in the face of the oppression of others. In addition, this essay contest invites the writer to learn about moral courage and the personal and societal benefits that may be realized by standing up to injustice.

This essay contest uses the history of the Holocaust as a backdrop to encourage students in 7-12 grade to recognize those individuals and groups who took a strong stand on a specific issue based on their personal beliefs or convictions, regardless of the danger or threat to their safety. Not only will students write about how that person’s moral courage has an impact on the world, but also, most importantly, how those actions have influenced their own lives. Past essay winners wrote about Bob Marley, Cesar Chavez, Imani McGee-Stafford, Marsha P. Johnson and Irena Sendler.

Student writers must be Colorado, New Mexico or Wyoming students in grades 7-12. Monetary awards will be granted to the top three winners in two divisions:

  • Division I: 7th-9th grade
  • Division II: 10th-12th grade

Contest Rules & Submission Guidelines:

For full essay contest details, click here: 2024 Essay Contest FULL Rules & Guidelines

Download forms here: Essay Application Form  & Essay Reflection Sheet

Submissions can be submitted two ways – Submissions due March 29, 2024!!

  1. Snail mail – Instructions are above in the full rules and guidelines. Use these links for the essay application form & reflection sheet.
  2. Electronically  – Submit all information on the following link and be prepared to complete the application form & reflection sheet online. NOTE – a strong suggestion is to have answers to the application form & reflection sheet prepared on a separate document, which will allow for an easy cut and paste to the form. Submit your essay here: https://form.jotform.com/240283992873165

2024 Essay Winners will be recognized on the evening of May 8, 2024, at 5:30 pm MT at ADL’s 2024 Governor’s Holocaust Remembrance Program. Stay Tuned for Registration for this event!

The A Tribute to Moral Courage student essay contest is made possible by an anonymous donor who believes that anti-bias education and building communities is essential for our youth, families and educators.

Read, learn and get inspired work by our past winners

Follow the links below:

2022 Student Winners

2021 Student Winners