Boston, MA- The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation announced today that the national John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Essay Contest, with a first place prize totaling $10,000, is now open and accepting submissions from U.S. high school students. The deadline for entries is Saturday, January 9, 2010.
Students and teachers may access the contest’s website by clicking here.
The annual Profile in Courage Essay Contest invites students from across the nation to write an essay describing the political courage of a U.S. elected official. The essay contest is sponsored by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and generously supported by John Hancock Financial.
The contest is a companion program of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award™, named for President Kennedy’s 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Profiles in Courage, which recounts the stories of eight senators who risked their careers by taking principled stands for unpopular positions.
The winner of this competitive annual contest will be awarded a $5,000 cash prize and – for the first time this year – an additional $5,000 to grow in a John Hancock Freedom 529 College Savings Plan. The student’s nominating teacher is awarded a John F. Kennedy Public Service Grant in the amount of $500 to be applied toward school projects involving student leadership and civic engagement. The essay contest winner and nominating teacher will also receive an expense paid trip to Boston, where they will be honored by Caroline Kennedy at the annual John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award ceremony in May of 2010. A second place winner receives $1,000 and up to five finalists each receive $500.
“This national essay contest fittingly honors President Kennedy, who believed deeply in the power of the individual and the promise of our nation’s young people,” said Paul G. Kirk, Jr., Chairman of the Kennedy Library Foundation Board of Directors. “It is gratifying to see how readily students today can identify and understand acts of political courage and their importance in our democratic society, as well the role courage plays in today’s political climate.”
“We are pleased to support this important contest encouraging student leadership and civic engagement,” said Carol Fulp, Senior Vice President, Brand Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility for John Hancock Financial. “This national high school contest is a reflection of John Hancock’s commitment to education, literacy and civic involvement.”
Last year, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation received 1,464 essays from high school students in forty-nine states and American citizens studying in Canada, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation is a private, non-profit organization that provides financial support, staffing, and creative resources for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, a presidential library administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. The Kennedy Library Foundation and the Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum seek to promote, through educational and community programs, a greater appreciation and understanding of American politics, history, and culture, the process of governing and the importance of public service. For more information about the Kennedy Library Foundation and the Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, visit www.jfklibrary.org.