Writing Contest

Aldo Leopold Writing Contest

WRITING CONTEST

Each year, the Aldo Leopold Writing Contest invites New Mexico students in Grades 6-12 to submit essays in response to a carefully-crafted and thought-provoking prompt inspired by the writings of Leopold. Encouraged by their teachers, students delve into his philosophies of land stewardship, especially as set forth in A Sand County Almanac, and explore the relevance of Leopold's classic and timeless observations to issues that they experience personally, locally, and globally.

The Writing Contest is divided into three levels:
Grades 6-7, Grades 8-9, and Grades 10-12.

A panel of volunteer judges evaluates each essay in these grade categories for responsiveness to the prompt, eloquence of expression, writing skill and language usage, and connection to Leopold's "land ethic." Judges choose First Place essayists in each of the three categories, as well as Honorable Mentions as merited. Each student winner receives a cash award and certificate. As determined by the judges, an additional award may be presented for Overall Best Essay.

Since its beginning in 2009, over 2,000 students from schools in rural and urban communities around New Mexico have taken part in the annual Aldo Leopold Writing Contest.

For 6th – 12th grade students in New Mexico, the Aldo Leopold Writing Contest is an effective and inclusive way to engage the next generation of citizen leaders in an urgent conversation about how to address the changing realities brought about by climate disruption, biodiversity loss, growing demand for fresh water, and other pressing global conservation issues.

It is effective not only because of how many it touches (the student participants, their schools, and their larger communities), but also because it gives voice to the writers with the most moral authority to discuss these issues: the generation most vulnerable to the consequences of inaction. It is inclusive because the essays are judged anonymously based on the character, relevance, and persuasiveness of the content, without regard to the writer’s race, origin, religion, or other factor. The Aldo Leopold Writing Contest is an organic way to diversify an essential conversation for society because it is expansive, wide-reaching, and merit-based.

2022 WRITING CONTEST

Please click on STUDENT'S NAME to read essay

GRADES 6-7

FIRST PLACE

ALEX HANNA, Grade 7
Albuquerque, Hanna Homeschool

HONORABLE MENTION

ADITYA VISWANATHAN, Grade 7
Los Alamos, Los Alamos Middle School

HONORABLE MENTION

STELLA GIORGETTI, Grade 7
La Mariposa Montessori, Santa Fe

GRADES 8-9

FIRST PLACE

TIMOTHY RYER, Grade 9
Mandela International Magnet School, Santa Fe

HONORABLE MENTION

MIA SCHLEMAN, Grade 8
Mandela International Magnet School, Santa Fe

HONORABLE MENTION

KALILA KO, Grade 9
Tres Piedras, Taos High School

GRADES 10-12

FIRST PLACE

ELIOT PATTON, Grade 10
Albuquerque - Bosque School

HONORABLE MENTION

ISABELLA McTEIGUE, Grade 11
Los Alamos - Los Alamos High School

HONORABLE MENTION

MATTHEW OSCHWALD, Grade 12
ABQ - Estancia Valley Classical Academy

2022 Writing Contest

2022 Aldo Leopold Writing Contest TOPIC and PROMPT

“Land, then, is not merely soil; it is a fountain of energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants, and animals … When a change occurs in one part of the circuit, many other parts must adjust themselves to it.”

─ ALDO LEOPOLD, “The Land Ethic,” A Sand County Almanac

We are seeing climate changes disrupt the natural balance of this “circuit of soils, plants, and animals.” Unpredictable variations in temperature and rainfall in the Southwest are creating soil erosion, water scarcity, habitat loss, and more.

ESSAY PROMPT What actions have you taken to help “tend the land” (such as protecting soil, plants, animals, wildlife habitat, water sources, etc.), or what are your ideas for how you and other young people can help counteract the impacts of climate disruption on the different elements of your local environment?

Instructions + Prompt

General Contest Details

ELIGIBILITY
Open to all students enrolled in grades 6-12 in public, private, and home schools in New Mexico.

CONTEST PARAMETERS

Students must submit original work and have a sponsoring teacher sign the contest entry form.
One entry per person.
Information about the essay topic will be published and distributed in the Fall, with a deadline for submission two months prior to the presentation of awards in the Spring.

FORMAT AND AWARDS

FIRST PLACE
Grades 6-7: 300-500 word essay $750 award
Grades 8-9: 400-600 word essay $750 award
Grades 10-12: 500-700 word essay $750 award

HONORABLE MENTION (at judges' discretion) $25 award

David E. Stuart Humanitarian Award for Overall Best Essay (at judges' discretion) $250 bonus

ENTRY FORM AND ESSAY SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Students are encouraged to read “The Land Ethic” and other essays by Aldo Leopold as part of your preparation. These can be found in A Sand County Almanac, available at local libraries, bookstores, and on the internet.

Students, parents, and teachers:

Here is a step-by-step guide to submitting your essay.

When you complete your Essay, make sure that it does not contain any identifying information like your name, your teacher's name, or your school, so that judging can be anonymous. Entries may be typed or handwritten. Save your essay as a PDF file.

Fill out the Entry Form with your name, school, and teacher's name. Make sure you allow time for your teacher to sign off on this form! Save this document as a separate file from your essay.

How to use the fillable pdf Entry Form:

Click on the link to the form from either the LWP website Home Page or the Writing Contest Page. This should bring up the form in your browser.
Begin filling in the form fields with student information.
Once completed, right-click on the form, and choose SAVE AS. Select desired folder on your computer, and give the file a name, e.g., “[STUDENT NAME] Entry Form”.
When you send your essay to LeopoldWritingContest@usgo.net, using the subject line WRITING CONTEST ENTRY, just attach the Entry Form and the Essay to the email to complete the submission.

Completed entries must be submitted as two separate PDF files: (1) the completed essay, and (2) the completed entry form. Send both files to LeopoldWritingContest@usgo.net.
Please be sure that the essay does not identify the author, sponsor, or school so that judging can be anonymous.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
After essays are judged, the award-winning students and their teachers will be notified, and results will be announced on this page.

Winning essays will be published in the Spring Issue of El Piñón, the semi-annual Newsletter of the Leopold Writing Program.

Please scroll down for information and results from the 2021 Writing Contest

The Aldo Leopold Writing Contest Awards are presented each year to a distinguished group of young essayists from around the state of New Mexico. These inspiring young men and women are the reification of our environmental hopes. I urge you to support the program that now lets them flourish.

- Barry Lopez, National Book Award Winner

"Lopez's was one of the most intelligent, informed and urgent voices over the past 40 years calling us to repent of our destruction and devastation of the earth, an impassioned, poetic plea for us to come to our senses."
—The Salt Lake Tribune

IN MEMORY OF BARRY LOPEZ (1945-2020)
The Leopold Writing Program has established a prize to honor Barry Lopez, who, as our first Annual Leopold Lecturer, presented awards to the Writing Contest winners in 2017. Each year, a selection of books (value $250) will be donated to the school of the student whose essay is judged BEST OVERALL.

2021 Leopold Writing Contest Award Winners

Click on student's name to view essay.
2021 Essay Topic and Prompt appear below Winners section.

To view Writing Contest Winners from previous years, please click HERE.

WRITING CONTEST ESSAY TOPIC - 2021

“Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets, but humbler folk may circumvent this restriction if they know how. To plant a pine, for example, one need be neither god nor poet; one need only own a good shovel.”
– ALDO LEOPOLD, “Pines Above the Snow,” A Sand County Almanac

As the novel coronavirus spread in 2020, we needed to stay home. We had to turn back to familiar landscapes, reacquaint ourselves with our yards and neighborhoods, and look more closely at our own skies and landscapes.

“Using Leopold’s land ethic as a guidepost, think about lessons we can learn from staying home. What acts of creation – be that as poet or as planter – did you unexpectedly find yourself taking up, and how did your creations build on some of New Mexico’s senses of dwelling with the Earth, such as querencia, kinship, acequias, and aridity?”

2021 Writing contest flyer