Annual

We invite students to play critic and submit an original review about any kind of creative expression covered in The New York Times. Contest open from Nov. 16 to Dec. 14.

However, this English obsession is not without reason. According to a 2013 report, individuals who speak English fluently earn 34 percent more than those who cannot. English is essential in today’s globalized work force, but language acquisition should be accumulative, not subtractive. Research shows that high mother tongue proficiency makes learning a second language easier…

Victor Xu, age 14, The Crescent School, Toronto: “Our Educational System Should Better Serve Introverted Students”Sanjana Yasna, age 16, Stuyvesant High School, New York, N.Y.: “Let’s End the Period of Shame”Sarah Yee, age 15, Granite Bay High School, Granite Bay, Calif.: “Open Your Eyes to See Mine Are Not Your Trend”Hanna Zhao, age 14, John…

This announcement is available as a one-page PDF to hang on your class bulletin board.Every year since 2010, The Learning Network has invited teenagers around the world to add The New York Times to their summer reading lists. So far, more than 80,000 have done so.If you are looking for ways to offer students more…

How can I make my podcast stand out?We are primarily looking for thoughtful pieces with a clear beginning, middle and ending. Here are a few tips to get your podcast noticed by our judges:Choose a topic that matters to you. Not only will your passion sustain you during the creative process, but it will shine…

What makes you mad?What would you like to see change?What do you wish more people understood?Over the last eight years, tens of thousands of teenagers from around the world have answered these questions in the form of short opinion essays submitted to our annual spring Editorial Contest.They’ve made compelling arguments on issues big and small,…

How do daddy longlegs grow such strange legs? Can genetically engineered bacteria help us detect buried land mines? Why does snow sometimes turn red? Can Saturn’s rings help to reveal what’s happening in the planet’s core? If you click on any of these articles, you’ll see that they are written for a general reader. Special…

Below are answers to your questions about writing, judging, the rules and teaching with this contest. Please read these thoroughly and, if you still can’t find what you’re looking for, post your query in the comments or write to us at LNFeedback@nytimes.com.Questions About WritingWhat is a personal narrative?For this contest, we’re defining a personal narrative…

Below are answers to your questions about writing, judging, the rules and teaching with this contest. Please read these thoroughly and, if you still can’t find what you’re looking for, post your query in the comments or write to us at LNFeedback@nytimes.com.Questions About WritingWhat is a review?In a cultural review, a reviewer experiences a work…

One study in 2008 was able to capture this: When given a word puzzle to solve, the participants who exercised defensive pessimism did better while under a “threat motivational state”: when they were made to imagine what could go wrong, or the consequences of doing poorly. And on the flip side, their performance actually worsened…