Writing Competition

Use the YES! article, prompt, and sample essays in each writing lesson to bring the real world to your classroom—and to take your students’ writing to a new level.

Is there anyone in your life—you included—who is not comfortable being referred to as “he” or “she”? Write a letter to Cole, founder of the Brown Boi Project, on how you feel about this expansion of gender pronoun language. How do you deal with this cultural change?

Want a motivator to take your students' writing to a higher level? Here's an opportunity to write about something meaningful and for a bigger audience beyond the classroom.

Read Alex's essay, "A New Design for Language," about the social and grammatical limits of gender-neutral pronouns—and how to get beyond them.

Read Ella's essay, "Language is a Many-Gendered Thing," about the challenges of using gender-neutral pronouns in a Puerto Rican American family.

Read Avery's essay, "Existing Openly Is Half the Battle," about being the token nonbinary person at college while still learning about their own gender.

Read Madeleine's essay, "The Right to Be a Little Bit Rude," about overcoming the discomfort of correcting people who use the wrong gender pronouns.

Read Joanne's essay, "The Jintas of Conservative Korean Culture," about how words should never be allowed to limit who we are.

We received many outstanding essays for the Spring 2017 Writing Competition. Though not every participant can win the contest, we'd like to share some excerpts that caught our eye.

Cole, founder of the Brown Boi Project, responds to the winners of our Spring 2017 National Student Writing Competition.

Describe how you would feel if a place that defines you was threatened to be destroyed or taken away. What would you do? Would you fight to save it?

Want a motivator to take your students' writing to a higher level? Here's an opportunity to write about something meaningful and for a bigger audience beyond the classroom.