{"id":199136,"date":"2026-05-21T19:15:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T19:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/199136\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T19:15:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T19:15:11","slug":"senator-mccormick-launches-america250-essay-contest-for-pennsylvania-high-school-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/199136\/","title":{"rendered":"Senator McCormick launches America250 essay contest for Pennsylvania high school students"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>        <a href=\"https:\/\/talkerie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/SenMcCormick1200.jpg\" data-caption=\"Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA). Contributed photo.\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" class=\"entry-thumb td-modal-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SenMcCormick1200-640x427.jpg\"   alt=\"McCormick\" title=\"SenMcCormick1200\"\/><\/a>Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA). Contributed photo.<\/p>\n<p>Winning essays to be entered into the Congressional Record; winners invited to meet with the Senator in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. Senator Dave McCormick (R-PA)\u00a0today announced\u00a0the launch of a Pennsylvania Youth Essay Contest in celebration of America\u2019s 250th anniversary, inviting high school students across the Commonwealth to reflect on Pennsylvania\u2019s\u00a0central role\u00a0in the American story.<\/p>\n<p>Winning essays\u00a0will be entered into the Congressional\u00a0Record\u00a0and their authors will be invited to meet with Senator McCormick\u00a0in Washington D.C. Top runners-up will receive a signed letter of recognition from the Senator.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis year, America turns 250 years old \u2014 and no state has shaped that story more than Pennsylvania,\u201d\u00a0said Senator McCormick.\u00a0\u201cOnly one state can claim the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed, where the most important battle of the Civil War was won, and where the Arsenal of Democracy was forged. As we celebrate this milestone, I want to hear from the next generation of Pennsylvanians \u2014 about the people who built this country, and about what they themselves intend to build next. I can\u2019t wait to read what they write.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>How to Participate<\/p>\n<p>Who is eligible:\u00a0Pennsylvania high school students, divided into two divisions based on the grade they are rising into for the 2026\u201327 school year:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Division I\u00a0\u2014 Grades 9 and 10\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Division II\u00a0\u2014 Grades 11 and 12\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Length:\u00a0600 to\u00a0800 words.<\/p>\n<p>Prompts (participants may choose either one):\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Prompt 1\u00a0\u2014 Choose a Pennsylvanian, from any era and any\u00a0walk of life, whose story you believe every American should know. Who were they, what did they do, and what does their life reveal about what America is capable of at its best?<\/p>\n<p>\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Prompt 2\u00a0\u2014 The Founders\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0just celebrate 1776; they built something. As America turns 250, what is the one challenge you believe the next generation must solve to make America stronger at 300? What would you do about it?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>How to\u00a0submit:\u00a0Email your essay to\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/talkerie.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#cbbbaaf9fefb8ba6a8a8a4b9a6a2a8a0e5b8aea5aabfaee5aca4bd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>\u00a0by 11:59 p.m. ET on\u00a0July 4, 2026. Use the subject line:\u00a0250th Essay \u2014 [Name, Grade, School, City].<\/p>\n<p>Selection:\u00a0Winners will be notified in late July.\u00a0The authors of winning essays should be comfortable with having their\u00a0essay,\u00a0name, grade, and school\u00a0identified\u00a0publicly. Runners up and\u00a0other submissions will not be made public.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA). Contributed photo. Winning essays to be entered into the Congressional Record; winners invited to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":199137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,137],"class_list":["post-199136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}