Youth Opportunities - Sunday March 6th, 2011

Sunday March 6, 2011

[UPDATE: It may be useful to browse these old listings as many programs are annual, but for more current contests and competitions, head to the Youth Opportunities page.]

**Every ~~Saturday~~, urm... Every weekend I post about current youth opportunities that are open to submissions from Ontario residents, which naturally includes a lot of contests and competitions open to youth across Canada and the US. Please note I'm not attesting to the legitimacy or quality of anything listed here - read the fine print carefully and make your own judgement call, especially if a submission fee or creative rights are involved!**

Apologies for the minor delay (I'm starting to think I should call this a weekend round-up rather than a Saturday round-up). I only have two new opportunities for youth this week, but they're both pretty good ones, ready to reward great ideas. Have at 'em!

Great Questions of Canada Essay Competition
• Open to Canadian high school, college or undergraduate university students age 17-25
• Deadline is June 30th, 2011
The Historica-Dominion Institute's Great Questions of Canada Essay Competition invites students to submit a 1,500 word essay on one of six key debate topics:
• Founding Concepts
• Identity Revolution
• After Unity
• Canada & The World
• Heroes & Symbols
• Does History Matter?
Two first place winners (one in the English category and one in the French category) will be awarded $1,500 cash and flown to Ottawa for an awards ceremony while a first runner-up in each category will earn a $500 cash prize and a selection from the Historica-Dominion Institute books. All four winning essays will be published online. Teachers take note - any class with fifteen or more submissions will be considered for a prize of an Historica-Dominion Institute set of books. Visit the website to explore the debate topics and learn more.

The Awesome Foundation (Toronto Chapter at al)
• Open to anyone
• Deadline 15th of each month (ongoing)
Every month the Toronto Chapter of The Awesome Foundation for the Arts and Sciences will give $1000 to someone with an awesome idea, generally related to the city itself (Sayeth the website: "What would you do with $1000 to improve our city? Or to make it more fun? Or to prove a point? Or to solve a problem?"). This isn't specifically an opportunity for youth, but since it's open to anyone there's no reason teens can't apply.

Not in Toronto? The Awesome Foundation started in Boston, and there are plenty of other Awesome Foundation Chapters. Right now most are locally-based, but topic-related chapters seem to be on the way. You can even apply without attaching your idea to any chapter, so if you're anywhere with any kind of awesome idea, have a look at the website!

Previously Highlighted Youth Opportunities