USD Leadership School Announces Youth Essay Contest

The Character Development Center within the School of Leadership and Education Sciences (SOLES) at the University of San Diego has announced the 18th annual Character Matters Essay Contest. Public, private, and charter school students grades 4-12 in San Diego and Imperial Counties are invited to submit their essays.

The Character Matters Essay Contest provides a platform for insightful discussions and reflections on experiences that call for honesty, respect, responsibility, courage, self-discipline, and other virtues. All students have encountered experiences in their lives where their character has been tested, inspired, and strengthened. This essay contest provides students an opportunity for conscious reflection on these experiences.

Approximately 3,000 students participated in the contest last year, and the winners in each age category—elementary, middle, and high school—received a plaque and cash prize: $125 for first place, $75 for second place, and $50 for third place. Participating teachers are also eligible to receive a reduction in registration fees to attend this year’s “Character Matters” conference in June 2014. Teachers of winning students attend the conference for free.

The Character Development Center aims to serve educators and students in teacher education programs, K-12 teachers, administrators, counselors, parents and caregivers who desire to participate in the character development of children and youth, and to promote among the young development of life skills necessary for a productive personal and social life.

Teachers must submit their students’ (2-3) essays by Friday, April 11, 2014. Winning essays will be announced in May.

To learn about essay topics, rules and how to submit an essay, please visit us at www.sandiego.edu/soles/centers-and-research/character-development-center.

About the University of San Diego

Strengthened by the Catholic intellectual tradition, we confront humanity’s challenges by fostering peace, working for justice and leading with love. With more than 8,000 students from 75 countries and 44 states, USD is among the Top 20 Best Private Schools for Making an Impact according to The Princeton Review. USD’s eight academic divisions include the College of Arts and Sciences, the Knauss School of Business, the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, the School of Law, the School of Leadership and Education Sciences, the Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science, the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, and the Division of Professional and Continuing Education. In 2021, USD was named a “Laudato Si’ University” by the Vatican with a seven-year commitment to address humanity’s urgent challenges by working together to take care of our common home.