Learning Network: Winners of Our 7th Annual Student Editorial Contest!

From the coronavirus and college admissions to voting and video games ...

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story June 19, 2020 Dear Reader, Our annual Student Editorial Contest began this year in late February, just as the first cases of the coronavirus in the United States were detected — and weeks after parts of Asia and Europe had already begun quarantines. As millions of students around the world adjusted to attending school online, submissions poured in — 7,318 in all. Given how profoundly this crisis has impacted every aspect of teenage life, perhaps it is not surprising that many of the essays took on some aspect of the coronavirus, but what did surprise us is how many ways students found to do it. For many, it added urgency to the social justice issues that already mattered to them, and they wrote passionately through a coronavirus lens about racism and xenophobia, income inequality, prison reform, hunger, homelessness, voting rights, the digital divide, climate change and more. For others, it presented new questions to think about, from the rights of front line workers to the problem of toilet-paper hoarding. Some focused on the politics of the pandemic, while others found a way to make the personal universal, honing larger arguments out of individual experiences of loneliness or boredom. Together these essays show that it’s possible to take something impacting nearly every human on earth and make it your own. But, as you’ll see if you read our winning editorials, the pandemic wasn’t the only thing on young people’s minds this year. We read about how Spotify is “killing Beethoven,” why dyslexic students need more support, how “frivolous fiction” is a gateway drug to serious literature, and why your house cat really needs a collar. We hope that, like the 30 judges who read round after round of submissions, you’ll admire the way these winning essays make solid and compelling arguments in just 450 words — and how they do it not as dry summaries of pros and cons, but with real voice. Let us know what you think, whether you are a student, a teacher, a parent or simply a reader, by writing to us at LNFeedback@nytimes.com. And thank you again for participating, and making this contest such a success year after year. Sincerely, Katherine Schulten, editor PUBLISHED THIS WEEK ON THE LEARNING NETWORK contests Summer Reading Contest Week 2: What Got Your Attention in The Times This Week? To participate, submit your response here by June 26 at 9 a.m. Eastern. This week’s winners will be announced on July 7. By The Learning Network mentor texts Annotated by the Author: ‘10 Comic Books to Celebrate Pride’ George Gene Gustines tells us how he made his selections — and shows how even short descriptions require careful word choice. By The Learning Network contests The Winners of Our 7th Annual Student Editorial Contest From the coronavirus and college admissions to voting and video games, young people tell us about the issues that matter most to them. By The Learning Network student editorial contest winner Lessons From Failure This essay, by Sophie S. Ding, is one of the top 9 winners in the high school category of our Seventh Annual Student Editorial Contest for which we received 6,076 entries. By The Learning Network student editorial contest winner Collar the Cat! This essay, by Abel John, is one of the top 9 winners in the high school category of our Seventh Annual Student Editorial Contest for which we received 6,076 entries. By The Learning Network student editorial contest winner Not American Yet This essay, by Alexander J. Lee, is one of the top 9 winners in the high school category of our Seventh Annual Student Editorial Contest for which we received 6,076 entries. By The Learning Network student editorial contest winner Spotify Is Killing Beethoven … Here’s How You Can Save Him! This essay, by Yuanlin Liu, is one of the top 9 winners in the high school category of our Seventh Annual Student Editorial Contest for which we received 6,076 entries. By The Learning Network student editorial contest winner No Love of Milton if Not for Loving Frivolous Fiction This essay, by Isabelle Lu, is one of the top 9 winners in the high school category of our Seventh Annual Student Editorial Contest for which we received 6,076 entries. By The Learning Network Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT MORE EDITORIAL WINNERS AND RUNNERS-UP student editorial contest winner The Class of 2021 Could Change College Admissions Forever This essay, by Erin Tan, is one of the top 9 winners in the high school category of our Seventh Annual Student Editorial Contest for which we received 6,076 entries. By The Learning Network student editorial contest winner This Land Was Made for You and Me This essay, by Nicole Tian, is one of the top 10 winners in the high school category of our Seventh Annual Student Editorial Contest for which we received 6,076 entries. By The Learning Network student editorial contest winner How Animal Crossing Will Save Gen Z This essay, by Ananya Udaygiri, is one of the top 10 winners in the high school category of our Seventh Annual Student Editorial Contest for which we received 6,076 entries. By The Learning Network student editorial contest winner How Pragmatism Is Poisoning the Democratic Will of America’s Youth This essay, by Edward Xu, is one of the top 9 winners in the high school category of our Seventh Annual Student Editorial Contest for which we received 6,076 entries. By The Learning Network student editorial contest winner Bringing Ethics to Your Plate This essay, by Alexa Troob, 13, is one of the top three winners in the middle school category of our Seventh Annual Student Editorial Contest for which we received 1,242 entries. By The Learning Network student editorial contest winner Harnessing Boredom in the Age of Coronavirus This essay, by Elan Cohen, is one of the top three winners in the middle school category of our Seventh Annual Student Editorial Contest for which we received 1,242 entries. By The Learning Network student editorial contest winner Switching Letters, Skipping Lines: Troubled and Dyslexic Minds This essay, by Hayden Miskinis, is one of the top three winners in the middle school category of our Seventh Annual Student Editorial Contest for which we received 1,242 entries. By The Learning Network contests Runners-Up From Our 7th Annual Student Editorial Contest The 2020 election, animal rights, health care, theater and librarians: 21 teenage runners-up take on the issues that matter most to them. By The Learning Network Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Like this email? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up here. ELSEWHERE IN THE TIMES High School Students and Alumni Are Using Social Media to Expose Racism Learning has been online and remote this semester. So too, now, are call-outs of questionable behavior. By Taylor Lorenz and Katherine Rosman mind What We’re Learning About Online Learning As virtual classrooms and online learning proliferate, researchers are working to quantify what works and what doesn’t. By Benedict Carey How 132 Epidemiologists Are Deciding When to Send Their Children to School “This is the dreaded question,” say experts struggling to weigh virus risks and uncertainty against family well-being. By Claire Cain Miller and Margot Sanger-Katz How are we doing? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to LNfeedback@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for The Learning Network from The New York Times. To stop receiving these emails, unsubscribe or manage your email preferences. 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