Submissions for AU’s annual Student Contest are due soon!

This is friendly reminder that essay submissions for Americans United’s annual Student Contest are due Nov. 4. We’re also accepting video submissions, and the deadline for those has been extended to Dec. 9.

Theme: Church-state separation and public schools

Every year, Americans United asks students to reflect on why religious freedom and church-state separation are important to them and their communities. This year’s theme explores public schools. We’re asking students to write a short essay or create a short video responding to these three questions:

• How are religious extremists and their lawmaker allies attempting to erode church-state separation in public schools?
• How have communities and advocates addressed this in the past?
• Moving forward, what could be done to educate others about these threats and mobilize communities to protect church-state separation in public schools?

Calling all high school and college students

AU’s Student Contest is open to high school students and undergraduate students attending any 2- or 4-year college or university, including trade and technical schools. Students must live in the United States, including the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories. Participants can submit either an essay or a video, not both. Students are only eligible for one prize.

We offer cash prizes for the first-place, second-place and third-place winners, and the first-place essays will be printed in AU’s Church & State magazine. The first-place videos will be played at the Summit for Religious Freedom. (All the winning essays will be published on AU’s website.)

You can learn more about the Student Contest here. If you’re not a student, spread the word to any students you know!