Submission Deadline: Feb. 3

Winners/Honorable Mentions Notified: Feb. 14

Winners Recognized at City Council Meeting: Feb. 18

Winners/Honorable Mentions Recognized on City Website and Social Media: Feb. 19

Winners (up to 4): $75 cash prize

Honorable Mentions (up to 4): $50 cash prize

Winners were recognized at the Feb. 18, 2025, City Council meeting. In addition, winners and honorable mentions will be featured on the City's website and social media platforms.

Cash prizes are made possible by the generous support of the Eden Prairie Community Foundation.

Submissions are considered in two categories:

Grades K-8
Grades 9-12

• Only one submission per individual. Participants may submit one of the following for consideration: writing, artwork or audio/video work. This includes, but is not limited to, an essay, poem, painting, drawing, sculpture, collage, video art, sound art, etc.
• Participants must reside or attend school in Eden Prairie
• If you are unable to submit the work electronically or to request a reasonable accommodation, please contact Paja Xiong at 952-949-8394
• Written submissions should be uploaded as PDFs. Artwork as high-quality .jpg files not to exceed 5 MB each. Video files must be .mov files, audio files must be .mp3 files and no longer than 5 minutes in length.

• "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied by a single garment of destiny. What affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
  Martin Luther King Jr.
  April 16, 1963; letter from Birmingham City Jail

• "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'"
  Martin Luther King Jr.
  Aug. 11, 1957; sermon in Montgomery, Alabama

• "Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble."
  John Lewis, American civil rights activist and longtime congressman from Georgia
  June 27, 2018; social media post

• "Racism is a grown-up disease, and it is time we stop using kids to spread it."
  Ruby Bridges, first Black child to integrate her whites-only elementary school in New Orleans
  Jan. 21, 2016; speech in New Jersey

• "Give light and people will find the way"
  Ella Baker, American civil rights activist

• Other quote by a Black American civil rights leader: Students may also select a quote not listed above and will need to include the exact quote, speaker, date and location with their submission.