Extracurriculars That Build Persuasive Writing
Writing to convince a reader of a position using evidence and logic.
Yale Young Global Scholars (YYGS) is a two-week summer program at Yale University for high-achieving high school students from around…
The National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) is the largest interscholastic organization in the United States dedicated to speech and…
The United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP) is a prestigious, week-long educational experience held annually in Washington, D.C., for outstanding…
Stanford’s Summer Humanities Institute (SHI) is a three-week, residential enrichment program for rising high school juniors and seniors that immerses…
The National High School Ethics Bowl is an academic competition in which teams of students analyze and discuss complex ethical…
The Congressional Essay Contest, organized by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America, is a national writing competition…
Participate in industry-validated competitive events aligned with National Curriculum Standards. The program involves preparing for and competing in role-play scenarios,…
The High School Fed Challenge is a prestigious economics competition organized by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in…
Young Democrats of America (YDA) is the nation's largest youth-led partisan political organization, with over 20,000 members across all 50…
The National Organization for Women (NOW) is a leading feminist advocacy organization dedicated to advancing equality and justice for women…
Amnesty International USA is a globally recognized human rights organization that empowers student activists to advocate for justice, dignity, and…
The Adroit Prizes for Poetry & Prose is an annual literary competition organized by The Adroit Journal that recognizes exceptional…
The EngineerGirl Writing Contest, run by the National Academy of Engineering, is an annual competition where students in grades 6–12…
The National High School Mock Trial Championship is a prestigious annual competition where student teams take on the roles of…
The Ayn Rand Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest is an annual writing competition organized by the Ayn Rand Institute that invites…
The John Locke Global Essay Competition, organized by the John Locke Institute, is a prestigious international competition open to students…
The Jane Austen Society of North America Essay Contest is a free annual writing competition open to high school students…
The Ayn Rand Anthem Essay Contest is an annual writing competition sponsored by the Ayn Rand Institute that invites high…
The Fountainhead Essay Contest, run by the Ayn Rand Institute, is an annual writing competition open to 11th and 12th…
The Lewis Center Ten-Minute Play Contest is a prestigious annual playwriting competition hosted by Princeton University's Lewis Center for the…
The SPJ/JEA High School Essay Contest is an annual writing competition organized by the Society of Professional Journalists Foundation and…
The AFSA High School Essay Contest is an annual writing competition organized by the American Foreign Service Association that invites…
The Horizon Academic Essay Prize is an annual international essay competition organized by Horizon Inspires for students in grades 9…
Learning to Be Heard is a free, global virtual public speaking competition for high school students aged 14 to 18,…
The Singularity: AI Essay Contest, organized by Veritas AI, is a free global competition open to high school students in…
The Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop is a selective creative writing program for high school students hosted by the prestigious…
Arete: An Introduction to the Classics is a program offered by the University of Dallas that immerses high school students…
The Schieffer Summer Journalism Camp is an intensive one-week program hosted by Texas Christian University for high school students interested…
College-Ready Writing: Personal and Academic, Both! is a two-week summer writing workshop offered by UCLA Center X for students in…
Letters About Literature is a national reading and writing contest administered by the Library of Congress that invites students in…
The Annenberg Youth Academy for Media and Civic Engagement is a three-week summer intensive program hosted by the USC Annenberg…
The Telluride Association Summer Seminar (TASS) is a free, highly selective five-week summer program for high school sophomores and juniors…
The ESU National Shakespeare Competition is a prestigious national program where high school students in grades 9 to 12 memorize,…
Caminos al Futuro is a free, three-week residential pre-college program hosted by the Cisneros Institute at George Washington University, open…
The California High School Speech Association (CHSSA) is the governing body for competitive speech and debate in California, overseeing individual…
The University of Minnesota College Invitational is an annual policy debate tournament hosted by the University of Minnesota that welcomes…
The Harvard National Speech and Debate Tournament is one of the most prestigious invitational tournaments in the country, drawing high…
Brave New Voices is an annual international youth poetry festival organized by Youth Speaks that brings together the world's most…
ENOUGH! Plays to End Gun Violence is a national initiative that invites teen writers and playwrights ages 13 to 19…
The Barkley Forum for High Schools is a prestigious competitive debate program hosted by Emory University, one of the nation's…
The Cal Invitational is a prestigious annual speech and debate tournament hosted by UC Berkeley, open to high school students…
The National Forensic League Honor Society, operated by the National Speech and Debate Association, is one of the oldest and…
The American Legion National High School Oratorical Contest is an annual public speaking competition where students demonstrate their knowledge of…
The American Debate League is a nonprofit organization that trains students in competitive Public Forum debate, building critical thinking, communication,…
The Great Debate is a national public-speaking competition organized by The Historical Association for secondary school students in years 10…
The World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships (WIDPSC) is an annual international competition where high school students from around…
NSS Global Space Debates is an international debate competition run by the National Space Society that challenges high school students…
The USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future and Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability High School Summer Internship Program…
The FIRE Free Speech Leadership Summit is an advocacy program organized by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)…
NYU Democracy Scholars is a free three-week residential summer program at New York University for rising high school seniors in…
The Human Rights Campaign Youth Ambassadors Program is a national advocacy initiative that trains LGBTQ+ youth and allies to become…