Entries are being accepted from high school students nationwide in the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Essay Contest.
The contest is sponsored by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation in Boston, with support from John Hancock Financial.
Each entrant is to write an original essay describing the political courage of a U.S. elected official. The contest is named for President Kennedy’s 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “Profiles in Courage,” which tells the stories of eight senators who risked their careers by taking principled stands for unpopular position, according to the news release.
The author of the winning essay will receive a first prize valued at $10,000, according to an announcement from the foundation. A cash prize of $5,000 will be awarded and, for the first time this year, an additional $5,000 will be given in the form of a John Hancock Freedom 529 College Savings Plan, according to a news release from the foundation.
The winner’s nominating teacher will receive a John F. Kennedy Public Service Grant for $500, to be applied toward school projects involving student leadership and civic engagement.
Both the winner and the teacher will receive an expenses-paid trip to Boston, where they will be honored by the late president’s daughter, Caroline Kennedy, at an awards ceremony in May 2010.
The second-place winner will receive $1,000 and up to five finalists each will receive $500, the news release stated.
Last year’s contest brought in 1,464 essays from high-school students in 49 states and from American citizens studying in Canada, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
For more information about the Kennedy Library Foundation, the contest, or the Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, visit www.jfklibrary.org.