{"id":396567,"date":"2026-09-11T05:02:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T05:02:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/396567\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T05:02:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T05:02:21","slug":"jacksonville-opens-submissions-for-the-2027-tomorrows-leaders-essay-contest-action-news-jax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/396567\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville opens submissions for the 2027 Tomorrow\u2019s Leaders Essay Contest \u2013 Action News Jax"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 The City of Jacksonville opened submissions for the 2027 Tomorrow\u2019s Leaders Essay Contest presented by VyStar Credit Union. Eligible students have until Monday, Oct. 19, to submit their entries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">The annual contest recognizes students who exemplify Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s philosophies of leadership, community involvement, volunteerism, and civic responsibility. Winners will be honored at the 40th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast, presented by Florida Blue, on Jan. 15, 2027, at the Prime Osborn Convention Center.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">This year\u2019s essay prompt is inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s words: \u201cWe must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope,\u201d from the 2002 book \u201cIn My Own Words,\u201d edited by Coretta Scott King. The quote reflects on acknowledging temporary setbacks while maintaining a long-term vision. Teachers and mentors are invited to nominate students to write essays reflecting themes drawn from Dr. King\u2019s life and teachings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">Kemal Gasper serves as the vice president of community engagement at VyStar Credit Union. \u201cAt VyStar, investing in young people helps build stronger communities and a brighter future for all,\u201d Gasper said. \u201cThe Tomorrow\u2019s Leaders Essay Contest challenges students to reflect on Dr. King\u2019s legacy while sharing their own vision for creating positive change. We are proud to partner with the City of Jacksonville to recognize these inspiring young leaders and celebrate the impact they are already making in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">The essay competition is organized in coordination with several local partner organizations, including the Jacksonville Branch NAACP, the Jacksonville Urban League and the Jax Chamber.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">The City of Jacksonville and its partner organizations will announce additional event and ticket details in November.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/live-breaking\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/live-breaking\/\" target=\"_blank\">&gt;&gt;&gt; STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE &lt;&lt;&lt;<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">[DOWNLOAD: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnewsjax.com\/mobile-apps\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 jsuuLb body-paragraph\">[SIGN UP: <a href=\"https:\/\/membercenter.actionnewsjax.com\/newsletters\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n<p>Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 The City of Jacksonville opened submissions for the 2027 Tomorrow\u2019s Leaders Essay Contest presented by&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[344,347,9024,28,348,116,351,118,117,58055,349,350,158106,43724,346,345],"class_list":["post-396567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-action-news-jax","tag-cbs47","tag-city-of-jacksonville","tag-florida","tag-fox30","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-fl","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-martin-luther-king-jr","tag-northeast-florida","tag-southeast-georgia","tag-tomorrows-leaders-essay-contest","tag-vystar-credit-union","tag-wfox","tag-wjax"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}