9/11 Essay Contest for Middle School Students - $500 First Prize

Calling all Middle School Students!

The Palm Harbor Memorial Committee invites students to participate in the 9/11 Gene Gentile Essay Writing Contest. Students must submit an original essay on the topic “My 9/11 Hero” by Thursday September 5. The First Place winner receives a $500 cash prize and will be invited to read the essay at the 9/11 Ceremony held at Curlew Hills Memory Gardens on September 11th. The Second Place winner will receive a $250 cash prize.

All 6th - 8th grade students (school year 2024-25) in North Pinellas county are eligible to submit an essay, including virtual, traditional and home-schooled students. Deadline for essay submission is Thursday, September 5, at 5:00 p.m.

The selected ‘hero’ in the essay can be someone a student knows personally or may be someone researched. Essay length is 500-700 words. The essay contest serves as inspiration for local students to strengthen their appreciation of the historical importance of the events of September 11th, 2001.

For further details and judging criteria, please visit CurlewHills.com or call Liz Graham at Palm Harbor Fire Rescue at 727-784-0454 or egraham@palmharborfd.com.

The 9/11 essay contest is part of 9/11 Ceremony held annually on September 11th at Curlew Hills Memory Gardens. This will be the 13th year for this community event, which typically has approximately 2000 people in attendance. The keynote speaker for this year’s 9/11 ceremony will be 9/11 hero Retired FDNY Fire Commissioner Dan Nigro and the Master of Ceremony will be Mark Wilson, Anchor with FOX TV Channel 13. Please visit CurlewHills.com for more information on this event.