Sen. Bernie Sanders’ annual State of the Union essay contest is designed to engage Vermont’s high school students on the major issues facing the country. Over the past nine years, more than 4,000 students throughout Vermont have written essays about critically important issues, including climate change, access to mental health care, the rising cost of college, and much, much more.

At the beginning of 2020, the President of the United States will deliver a “State of the Union” speech to Congress, to report on the state of our country and outline priorities for the coming year.

Because Senator Sanders knows that real change and new ideas come from communities throughout this country, he invites Vermont high school students to write a 250-500 word essay focusing on what they believe are the major challenges facing our country, and how to solve them.

A panel of teachers will judge the essays and select ten finalists. Senator Sanders will enter the essays of the finalists into the Congressional Record – the official archive of the U.S. Congress. He will also invite the ten finalists to be interviewed about their essay topic, so their voices and perspectives can be included in his official videos and social media.

DEADLINE: Student essays must be submitted by Wednesday, January 8, 2020.

Please fill out the form below and copy and paste your essay in the box provided.

For questions about the contest please call (800) 339-9834