By Merritt Frey, Executive Director

It’s that time of year — time for students around the United States to share their ideas with us! Today we announce the theme for our annual Make the Case for Caring Essay contest. This contest asks for thoughtful insights on an international development issue from high school students and, for the first time this year, middle school students!

This year’s essay theme: Numerous challenges exist in countries like Mali, where many people live in extreme poverty – poor nutrition and health, food insecurity, lack of sanitation and clean water, violence and instability, low literacy rates, inadequate infrastructure, and more. Why should education be a priority given all of the competing needs in a country like Mali?

NEW THIS YEAR: We now have two categories for entry: 1) Middle school = 6-8th grades and 2) High school: 9-12th grades. All students enrolled in U.S. public, private, and home schools within the United States are eligible. The essay must be 300-500 words. Additional rules apply -- see official rules.

• First place: $100 cash award and publication online

• Second place: $75 cash award and publication online

• Third place: $50 cash award and publication online

Essays may be submitted beginning January 1, 2020 via email only to essay@malirisingfdn.org. Deadline for submissions is midnight eastern on March 31, 2019. NOTE: Do not submit your essay as a google doc link: it will not be accepted. The file must be sent as a word or word-friendly attachment -- see the rules for more details.

Learn more about the contest, exploring learning resources to help you write your essay, and read previous winning essays on our Make the Case for Caring Essay Contest page. Good luck!