Juneteenth Visions: 7th-grade Writing Contest
presented by the National Writers Union DC Chapter
presented by the National Writers Union DC Chapter
with Street Sense Media & Second Story Cards.
(Contest begins on April 1, 2025)
Juneteenth is a day of remembrance of the past and of hope for the future.So tell us the visions that inspire you.What is your vision for our future, your vision of hope.Where do we go from here as a people? — how do we get there as a people? — what actions must we take, as a people, to accomplish your vision?Go beyond the Google-able history. Imagine with greater prowess than the AI large language models. Bring your optimism. Be a visionary!
Awards
5-8 finalists will be printed in hard copies of Street Sense newspaper, as well as published online at streetsensemedia.org.
Three exemplary finalists will receive $20 gift cards donated by Second Story Cards.
A panel of National Writers Union members will review submissions, nominate finalists and select winners.
Rules
Entries of 250 words or less.
Open to 7th-graders enrolled in schools within the Washington, DC, limits.
One entry per student.
Submissions Open April 1, 2025 – Close April 30, 2025
What is Juneteenth?
“Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas, with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free.
This was two-and-a-half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation — which had become official on January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union Troops to enforce the new executive order.
However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865 and arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance.
Let’s ensure the children understand Juneteenth’s significance and history!”
The Caterpillar’s W.E.B. for Transformation. Purnell, Bruce. 2023.
Entry Guidelines
- You need a title — your headline, your tagline. Make it catch your readers’ attention.
- Your word limit is 250 or less, including the title. That means you won’t have room for a five paragraph report, so you’ll have to adopt a different style.
- Before you begin to write, decide how you will write. You may work in any style or form that feels natural to you and right for the piece. Are you an essayist, today? A poet? A humorist, or a philosopher? Are you some combination of these, or will you invent a form entirely your own today?
- Contests like this one are read anonymously to prevent bias, so you may not identify yourself or your school, which means no mascots and no revealing initials.
- Please respect that this is a contest, not a collaborative project. Write and revise the entry by yourself.
Teacher Guidelines
- Please make sure there is no identifying information in the submission — including name of school, its initials or mascots.
- The title of the piece must be included both in the Submission Title answer box and at the beginning of the Submission answer box. This means the 250-word limit includes the title.
- Teachers will be contacted individually when their student’s work finalizes, before finalists are announced publicly.
- Please forward the confirmation email from Google Forms to the student author for their review.
