Announcing the 2024 Youth Awards Program Winners!
We wanted to encourage everyone for all the great entries they sent in, and so we decided to have 20 joint winners!
We received so many worthy entries from so many of you that we have added four extra pages to this issue! Also, we’ll publish many more Noteworthy Entries on this website soon, and also in Vol. 37, issue 1. The Awards Issue has been mailed to the winners and contributors. Everyone who entered the program will also get a printed copy (international entrants will get digital copies due to high postal costs).
Hearty congratulations to all the winners!
* * Aayuv Reddy, age 8, New Jersey & Keva Jain, age 10, New York.
* * Eden You, age 11, New York & Anthony Wei, age 11, New York.
* * Arianna Shaprow Crain, age 13, Nevada & Jessie Li, grade 6, B.C., Canada.
* * Benjamin Kwack, age 12 & Jaslene Kwack, age 14, Illinois.
* * Amelia Chyu, age 15, South Korea & Autumn Maley, grade 9, New York.
* * Jack Aronian, age 14, & Laurel Aronian, age 17, Connecticut.
* * Zeran Li, age 16, New York & Steven Wang, age 17, New York.
* * Mahilan Guha, age 17, grade 11, Maryland & Aditi Nair, age 16, Virginia.
* * Jonathan Junkins, age 17, Oregon & Emily Maremont, age 17, California.
* * Pooja Verma, grade 11, California & Yifei Kevin Niu, age 17, Massachusetts.
NEW: We are pleased to offer a special 2024 Youth Honor Awards feature for your reading pleasure! You can read and/or download it here. (A 7 Mb file).
2024 Youth Honor Awards on Multicultural & Nature Awareness
Traditions & Celebrations • Diversity & Tolerance • Dreams & Visions • International/Intercultural Experiences • Family & Society • Nature & Ecology • Youth Activism • Energy & Climate Issues • Peace & Justice
Youth Honor Awards recognize creative and artistic works by young people that promote multicultural and nature awareness. Download the 2024 Youth Awards flyer. Winners will be featured in our Autumn 2024 issue.
A Few Ideas to Get You Thinking:
If You Want to Enter a Multicultural/Diversity Submission:
What does diversity mean to you? Your race or religion, culture, ethnicity or country you come from, the language your family speaks at home, your family’s economic background, your abilities or disabilities, the color of your skin, sexual orientation… Do you belong to a privileged group? Were your adopted? Are you bicultural or biracial? Why/how to learn multiple languages? How has your culture or diversity challenged you or helped you in preparing for your future or made you who you are? What lessons did you learn in an extended trip to a country or region? How can our diversity help us become more sustainable, livable, beautiful, or appreciative? How to promote peace in a place? You can even submit a photo/art essay showing diversity and/or beauty of a culture or place, or a group of people…
If You Want to Enter a Nature/Ecology Submission:
Share an experience in nature, hiking or camping trip that brought you closer to nature. Think of activities that helped you learn about the beauty of nature and natural systems; biology/ecology of an area. What can we learn from weeds or trees? Send photos or art pieces (or an illustrated essay) that show the beauty and/or intricacy of nature, ecology of an area, etc. How do you help protect an ecosystem, a community, or a part of the planet?
Bilingual (Non-English writings with an English translation are equally welcome! You may choose to highlight the work of your youth organization or tell us about a group project you participated in. Using the entry guidelines (below), tell us how your work to promote peace, appreciate and/or preserve nature, enrich a community, its members and/or the lives of underprivileged people in your community.
Entry Guidelines:
Original writing (essays, interviews, poems, plays, short stories, etc.) and/or art (photos, paintings, cartoons, etc.) from youth (ages 7 to 18), should be typed or neatly handwritten. Entries should be appropriate for a subset of 7 to 18 year-olds. Prose ≤ 1,000 words; poems ≤ 30 lines. Limit photos and artworks to a maximum of 8 pieces; poems and prose to a maximum of 5.
Entries must be postmarked/emailed by 5 May 2024. Please include:
• A cover letter telling about yourself and your submission, your age/grade, address and an e-mail for our response/notification if you are a winner.
• A parental permission email telling us that the work entered is your original work and that we have their permission to publish your entry, if selected for publication.
• $6 Entry Fee. (To pay entry fee via PayPal, access the link here). Low-income entrants can enter for free. Every student who enters the awards can receive either a physical copy or digital copy (International entrants will receive an electronic copy) of the Skipping Stones issue featuring the Honor Awards.
Ten winners (and also some noteworthy entries) will be published in the Autumn 2024 issue (Vol. 36, no. 2) as well as on our website. Winners will receive an Honor Certificate, a subscription to Skipping Stones magazine, and five multicultural and nature books.
Send your 2024 Youth Award entries to:
By snail mail:
Skipping Stones Magazine
166 W. 12th Ave
Eugene, OR 97401 USA
By email:
editor{at}SkippingStones{dot}org
Pay Entry Fee here.
The 2023 Youth Honor Award Winners Announced!
Hearty Congratulations to our 2023 Youth Honor Awards Winners! We had received many outstanding entries this year. While we have honored many entrants, ages 9 to 17, for their creative, thought-provoking contributions of art and writing, we simply couldn’t include all worthy entries in the Awards Issue. We will publish many more Noteworthy Entries in our next issue (Spring 2024) as well as on the website, beginning in mid-September. All contributors and subscribers will be sent the issue when ready. Everyone who entered their works will also get a copy of the Awards Issue to be released on Sept. 1st (some entrants will receive digital copies via e-mail due to the high-cost of the international postage). You can read the Awards Issue in its entirety now!
The 2023 Winners are:
Sophie Xu, age 9, grade 4, Illinois, and Eden You, age 10, New York.
Nova Macknik-Conde, age 11, and Iago Macknik-Conde, age 16, New York.
Jaslene Kwack, age 13, Illinois, and Arianna Shaprow Crain, age 12, Nevada.
William Park, age 17, Virginia, and Elena Davis, age 15, Virginia
Minseo Choi, h.s. junior, Seoul, South Korea, and Chloe Rui, grade 8, California.
Ellie Payne, age 17, Kansas, and Juliana Isabelle Ongking, age 17, Philippines.
Yutong (Annie) Wei, grade 8, and Mia Liu, age 13, both of Ontario, Canada.
Ishani Singh, grade 10, New Jersey, and Nidhi Nadgir, age 15, California.
Students of Share Ground Project in South Korea.
Thank you for your submissions and entries that make Skipping Stones issues possible!
The 2022 Youth Honor Awards on:
Peace Within, Peace in Our World
We are pleased to announce the 2022 Youth Honor Award winners.
** Ariatna G. Claudio, age 7, Maryland, & Tang Li, age 9, Florida.
** Lilian Wang, age 10, Washington, & Mila Brown, grade 4, California.
** Nikita Paas, age 11, New York, & Avishi Gurnani, age 11, Singapore.
** Emily Tang, age 13, North Carolina, & Jaslene Kwack, age 12, Illinois.
** Teresa Zhang, age 16, New York, & James Wan, age 14, Pennsylvania.
** Kirin Mohile, age 16, New York, & Danielle Lee, age 16, New Jersey.
** Rebecca Park, h.s. junior, Michigan, & Shannon Ma, age 16, California.
* Katherine Han, age 17, Texas.
* Camille Campbell, age 17, Arizona.
** Students of Share Ground Project in Seoul, South Korea.
Hearty Congratulations to all our winners!
Note: ** indicates Joint winners
We received so many outstanding entries for the awards that we ran out of space for all entries we wanted to publish in this issue.We’ll publish many more pieces by the award winners along with other Noteworthy Entries on our website and in our next issue. Complimentary copies of the Awards issue are being mailed (along with the honor certificates and award prizes) to the winners and the contributors! Read the winning entries as well as some of the noteworthy entries in the latest issue here.
Peace Within, Peace in Our World
Multicultural & Interfaith Understanding • Traditions & Celebrations • Diversity & Tolerance • Dreams & Visions • International & Intercultural Experiences • Family & Society • Nature & Ecology • Energy & Climate Issues • Youth Activism • Peace & Justice • Spirituality & Faith Traditions • Gratitude • Non-violence…
We invite youth (ages 7 to 17) to share their creative writing, photo essays, and/or artwork on the theme: Peace Within, Peace in Our World. The way towards finding peace within as well as working for peace in the world is often a journey even more than a destination.
Some questions and thoughts to help you get your creative juices flowing:
- Describe in words or using an image a time you experienced a moment of peace and serenity within—how did you feel? What was around you?
- How do you work towards achieving peace in your home, school, or community? What or who inspires you to seek peace? What would peace in your life or community look like to you?
- Tell us about a time you found a peaceful solution to a conflict. How do you keep your cool during challenging times with peers or family?
- How can human societies live in harmony with nature?
- What is your ideal community, friendship or relationship with yourself?
- Your role models that promote and practice peaceful paths
The Youth Honor Awards recognize creative and artistic works by young people that promote multicultural, international and nature awareness. You might like to read the Youth Honor Award winning entries in our recent issues (Vol. 33, no. 2, Vol. 32, no. 4, and Vol. 31, no. 4) before submitting your entries.
Entry Guidelines:
Original writing (essays, interviews, poems, plays, short stories, etc.) and art (photos, paintings, cartoons, etc.) from youth, ages 7 to 17, should be typed or neatly handwritten. The entries should be appropriate for ages 7 to 17. Prose under 1,000 words; poems under 30 lines. Non-English and bilingual writings, photo essays and art pieces (up to 8) are equally welcome.
You may also choose to highlight the work of a youth organization or group project. Using the same guidelines as above, tell us how the group works to preserve nature or enrich the community, its members and the lives of others.
Send your best entries (up to 5 entries per person) via e-mail or snail mail by MAY 5, 2022.
Please include:
• A cover letter telling about yourself and your submission, your age, address and tel. number or e-mail so we can contact you and send you the awards issue when ready.
• Certificate of originality (This is an email or a short letter from a parent or teacher) telling us that what you are entering is YOUR OWN WORK and that we have your and your parents’ permission to publish it in Skipping Stones if judged worthy of inclusion.
• $6 entry fee. Every one will receive the Awards issue when published in late summer. Low-income entrants can enter for free. Simply tell us that it’s a low-income entry.
• Please do not forget to include your contact information (e-mail/ tel. no. for you/your parents & teacher).
Ten winners (and a few noteworthy entries) will be published on our website in mid- August 2022.
The winners will receive an Honor Award Certificate, a few complimentary back issues of Skipping Stones, and five nature and/or multicultural books.
Send your award entries (5 entries, max.) by April 25, 2022 by e-mail or snail mail at the address below. We will accept electronic files (word.doc/docx, .jpeg, .tiff, or .pdf) as attachments to your email.
You can pay entry fee by Paypal here, or send your entry with a check for $6 to the address below:
The Editors
Skipping Stones Magazine
166 W 12th Ave
Eugene, OR 97401 USA
E-Mail: editor(AT)skippingstones(DOT)org
We will announce the youth award winners by mid-August 2022. Ten winners as well as a few noteworthy entries will be published in the Skipping Stones AWARDS Issue to be released by Sept. 1, 2022.
2021 Skipping Stones Honor Awards:
Hearty Congratulations to all the winners! We received many outstanding entries for the youth awards this year, and so we decided to have many joint awards and two group awards as below. A number of noteworthy entries have also been published on the website. Click on Read the Content.
* Poems by 4th and 5th Grade Students of Ms. Milman at Laurence School, California
* Emily Meng, age 10, Connecticut, and Emily Tang, age 12, North Carolina
* Aditi Nair, age 12, Virginia, and Ryan Park, age 13, New York
* Saanvi Dhupar, age 13, New York, and Jasreen Randhawa, age 13, Alberta, Canada
* Tinklyn (Jinyuan) Xiang, age 14, British Columbia, Canada, and Liz Duke-Moe, age 17, Idaho
* Christopher Joszczyk, age 14, Connecticut, and Thee Sim Ling, age 14, Singapore
* Jamie Nguyen, age 15, California, and Rashi Lakhotia, age 16, Florida
* Catherine Xiong, age 17, British Columbia, Canada, and Julia Kiaer, age 17, Oregon
* Krithika Gopalakrishnan, age 17, Washington, and Ashley Yoon, age 17, California
* Artwork by Students of Mr. Hyun Sung Jung in Seoul, South Korea
Winners will receive their honor certificates, the awards issue and prize books in September. Everyone who entered the awards will receive a comp. copy of the issue in September. The issue also features the Asian Celebration Haiku Contest and the 2021 Book Awards. Since we couldn’t include all the Noteworthy entries that we wanted to publish in the issue, they will be published online here on our website in a few weeks.
We will also publish the awards issue on this website for your reading pleasure in a few weeks!
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The 2021 Youth Honor Awards Entries (Closed)
Multicultural Awareness, International Understanding, and Nature Appreciation:
Traditions and Celebrations * Diversity and Tolerance * International/Intercultural Experiences * Dreams and Visions * Youth Activism * Family and Society * Nature and Environment * Energy and Climate Change Issues * Peace, Justice and Equality
The Youth Honor Awards recognize creative and artistic works by young people that promote multicultural, international and nature awareness. You might like to read the Youth Honor Award winning entries in our recent issues (Vol. 32, no. 4, Vol. 31, no. 4, or Vol. 30, no. 4) before submitting your entries.
Entry Guidelines:
Original writing (essays, interviews, poems, plays, short stories, etc.) and art (photos, paintings, cartoons, etc.) from youth, ages 7 to 17, should be typed or neatly handwritten. The entries should be appropriate for ages 7 to 17. Prose under 1,000 words; poems under 30 lines. Non-English and bilingual writings, photo essays and art pieces (up to 8) are equally welcome.
You may also choose to highlight the work of a youth organization or group project. Using the same guidelines as above, tell us how the group works to preserve nature or enrich the community, its members and the lives of others.
Entries must be sent (e-mailed or postmarked) by 25 June, 2021.
Please include:
• A cover letter telling about yourself and your submission, your age, address and telephone number or e-mail.
• Certificate of originality (This is an email or a short letter from a parent or teacher) telling us that what you are entering is YOUR OWN WORK and that we have your and your parents’ permission to publish it in Skipping Stones if judged worthy of inclusion.
• $5 entry fee ($6, if sent by Paypal). Low-income entrants can enter for free, and your contact information (an e-mail or telephone for you and/or your parents).
Ten winners (and a few noteworthy entries) will be published on our website in late September 2021.
The winners will receive an Honor Award Certificate, complimentary back issues of Skipping Stones, and five nature and/or multicultural books.
Send your award entries (5 entries, max.) to Skipping Stones by e-mail or snail mail at the address below. We can accept electronic files (word.doc/docx, .jpeg, .tiff, or .pdf) as attachments to your email.
Pay the entry fee by Paypal here, or send a check to the address below:
The Editor
Skipping Stones Magazine
166 W 12th Ave
Eugene, OR 97401 USA
2020 Youth Honor Award Winners Announced
Eugene, Sept. 14, 2020. We are pleased to honor the following students (arranged by their age/grade levels) for their creative work promoting an understanding of cultural diversity and/or appreciation of nature with our annual Youth Honor Awards. We invite you to see their exemplary writing and art in our Autumn 2020 issue, to be released on Sept. 21, 2020.
Our Hearty Congratulations to the 2020 Youth Winners:
* Emily Yen, 10, Texas, & Aadhya Rakesh, 10, New Jersey, & Aily Wei, 10, New Jersey
* Ms. Milman’s Students at Laurence School, California
* Montserrat Llacuna, 12, Massachusetts, & Leanna Hsu, 12, New York
* Christopher Joszczyk, 13, Connecticut, & Sabrina Guo, 14, New York, & Leah Johnson,14, Virginia
* Claire Zhu, 15, California, & Katharine Tena, 15, Pennsylvania, & Siddhartha Chakilam, 15, India
* Farah Lindsey-Almadani, 16, Washington, & Tina Huang, 16, Virginia
* Xiaohong (Helen) Gui, 17, New York, & Jolin Chan, 17, California
* Lauren Bartel, 16, Florida, & Srinjoyi Lahiri, 17, Texas, & Megan Fan, 17, Michigan
* Anna Kiesewetter, 17, Washington, & Christina Chaperon, 17, Massachusetts
* Alison Karki, 17, New Jersey, & Lorena Sosa, 17, Florida, & Jiayi Liao, 17, P. R. China
In addition to being published in the awards issue, the winners will also receive honor certificates, multicultural and/or nature books, and several issues of the magazine. Joint winners will share the prizes.
The Autumn 2020 issue contains 28 pages of awards submissions. This year, we received so many outstanding entries that we ran out of space in the issue. So a dozen noteworthy entries have been slated for our winter issue (to be published in December 2020).
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More info about the awards: