info@delawareipl.org 302 703 7086

Delaware IPL is excited to announce our 2nd annual statewide RENEW essay contest for all high schoolers in Delaware. RENEW — Reflective Essays on Nature, Earth and their Wonders—is a platform for our youth to reflect, in writing, on the unique role of youth in climate action, growing concerns over environmental justice, and their personal sense of connectedness with the natural world.

$8,000 in cash awards will be available.

Like 2022, all high schoolers in Delaware are encouraged to participate, including those attending public, private, and parochial schools and those homeschooled.

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Topics:

Youth Climate Action

Climate change is an existential threat. The only real one. It will upend our social, ecological, and economic systems. And the overall health of our planet. How do you envision the unique role that youth/YOU can play in framing this challenge, fostering collaborative action, innovating creative solutions, and, or advocating for your future here in Delaware?

Environmental Justice

Everyone is or will be impacted by threats to the health of our natural environment and, most profoundly, by the effects of a warming planet - but some of us more than others. All too often, those most negatively affected by these threats are the least responsible for contributing to them and lacking the resources to adapt. Have you or someone you know suffered the consequences of environmental injustice? How might youth take action, individually and collectively, to raise awareness of, redress, and further prevent these injustices in Delaware?

A Web of Wonders

The web of life is truly a profound and intricate connectedness. Delicate balances exist within a healthy body, a healthy community, and the larger ecosystem in which they function. How does your sense of connectedness inspire and inform your experience of the natural world and your place in it? How does it fuel and guide your motivation to protect it? How might we better inspire that sense, those motivations in others?

"The future holds its breath believing in you"

-- Kathleen Dean Moore

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Judging Criteria:

Clarity – how clearly are reflections, arguments, opinions, and evidence expressed?

Passion – how well a student conveys passion for their topic?

Attention to the theme – how closely does writing align with the chosen topic?

Creativity – to what extent the writing displays originality of thought?In the content and the presentation.

Persuasiveness/effectiveness – with consideration for attention to theme, how impactful is the writing in terms of its ability to provide a different perspective, inspire a broader or deeper understanding, and, or compel action?

First Prize

Second prize

Third prize

Honorable Prize


Visit www.delawareipl.org for updates.
Email questions to RENEW@delawareipl.org
or text or call Charanjeet Singh Minhas at 302-359-2155.