The Phyliss J. McCarthy Scholarship

for

Excellence in Writing

LearnCurious is happy

to announce that the

Phyliss J. McCarthy

Scholarship

for

Excellence in Writing

will continue in 2026!

Please check back in Spring 2026

for next year's prompts.

Scholarship Contest

Details:

Entries submitted using the form below will be accepted from TBD, 2026 through July 23rd, 2026.

On August 6th, 2026, a grand prize scholarship winner ($1,000) and two runners up ($tbd) will be announced, and (pending author approval) their stories will be featured on the Learncurious website and blog.

Entrants must be high school juniors or seniors to win. Complete rules & details can be found here.

Thank you for honoring Phyliss's love of the written word.

Best of luck!

Nota bene: LearnCurious is not holding a contest in 2025. We look forward to resuming the scholarship competition in 2026 and reading next year's entries!

"We'll be assured of having more ideas and thoughts to exchange with others than we ever dreamed possible." ~ PJM

Need to brush up on vocab or punctuation?

Check out Learncurious's test-prep blog for tips, strategies, and memes.

Nota bene: LearnCurious is not holding a contest in 2025. We look forward to resuming the scholarship competition in 2026 and reading next year's entries!

We will leave the 2024 prompts here to give potential entrants an idea of what future prompts will be like :)

2024 Prompts:

In 2000 words or fewer, respond to one of the following prompts:

NARRATIVE: Do you remember the first time, or a specific time, you made someone laugh? OR do you remember a time someone made you laugh? Tell the story of what happened and its impact on you.

META: Write a letter to your future self and detail a day in your life currently. Touch on what is most meaningful to you and what makes you feel the strongest emotions.

WACKY: Complete the 11 Mad-Lib-style fill-in-the-blanks below, then craft a piece of poetry or prose that includes both a secret message* as well as each of your chosen words at least once (in no particular order):

___ (something inherited)

___ (item seen in nature)
___ (random word you like the sound of)
___ (type of weather)
___ (specific texture)

___ (color)

___ (type of body of water)
___ (plant or animal)

___ (specific scent or flavor)

___ (emotion)

___ (something you love)

*Note: You may choose to include your secret message (or a hint to it) in the 'Anything you'd like to add?' box in the submission form below. Or not.

Happy Writing! :)