Each year the theme for the President Gerald R. Ford Student Writing Challenge reflects on an important part of Gerald R. Ford’s character. High school students from public, private, city, suburban, rural and home schools participate in the contest. Finalists are chosen and recognized at a special awards program at the Museum.
Dec 12, 2016 So today I challenge you to begin a 30-day journal! Follow the prompts or your own and get to know yourself a bit better. When you're done, read all the way through and you'll see some change from start to finish-hopefully for the better. Young adult writers can use NaNoWriMo to write their books, but there’s also a writing challenge just for them: ChaBooCha, or the Chapter Book Challenge. Each year the theme for the President Gerald R. Ford Student Writing Challenge reflects on an important part of Gerald R. Ford’s character. High school students from public, private, city, suburban, rural and home schools participate in the contest. Finalists are chosen and recognized at a special awards program at the Museum. How to Use the Texting Speed Challenge Tool. Can you type as fluently as you speak? Take our speed test challenge to find out! Here’s how you can do it: Step #1: Choose one of the templates to begin the speed typing test. Step #2: Once you start writing, the typing test will begin to evaluate your speed and number of words per minute.
The window for submitting entries for the 2021 competition will close at 11:59 p.m. EST on March 12, 2021.
Please stay tuned for information about our virtual awards ceremony to be held in May.
Meet our 2021 Final Round Judges
Mayor Rosalynn Bliss
Mayor Rosalynn Bliss became the City of Grand Rapids’ first female Mayor when she took office on January 1, 2016. She was re-elected for a second term in November 2019. She previously served as a Second Ward City Commissioner for 10 years. Mayor Bliss also is serving as the Frederik Meijer Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Grand Valley’s Frederik Meijer Honors College, where she teaches a junior seminar. She earned bachelor’s degrees in psychology and criminal justice from the University of South Alabama and a master’s in social work from Michigan State University. Mayor Bliss is an active member of the community.
She is Past President of the Michigan Municipal League and currently serves on the boards of the Downtown Development Authority, Experience Grand Rapids, Convention Arena Authority, Friends of Grand Rapids Parks, Grand Rapids Promise Zone Authority, National League of Cities Council on Youth, Education, and Families, Urban Core Mayors, The Economic Club of Grand Rapids and the Interurban Transit Partnership. Mayor Bliss has been recognized and honored locally as well as statewide for her commitment, dedication and work in the field of child abuse and neglect and for her leadership in the community.
Michael Ford
With a BA from Wake Forest University and a M.Div. from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, Mike recently completed a long professional career in Student Affairs, the last 36 years serving in multiple leadership roles at Wake Forest. In February 2018 Mike received the Medallion of Merit Award from the University.
When Mike and Gayle are not sharing love and life with their 3 daughters/sons-in-law and grandchildren, Mike is fully engaged as a lay leader at First Presbyterian Church, volunteer and board member of Samaritan Ministries, and Chairman of the Gerald R. Classroom management planms. schraders teaching portfolio. Ford Presidential Foundation. Mike is the eldest son of former President Gerald R. and Betty Ford.
Shelley Irwin
Shelley Irwin is the host and producer for The WGVU Morning Show, a newsmagazine talk-show format on the local NPR affiliate Monday through Friday. The show, broadcast from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. features a wide variety of local and national newsmakers, plus special features. She also hosts several public affairs program on the TV side, including Family Health Matters and Kalamazoo Lively Arts.
Shelley is award winning in her profession, including five consecutive Gracie Allen Awards from American Women in TV and Radio for excellence as a program host. She was awarded the 2016 Athena Award, honoring an individual who has demonstrated leadership in their profession, mentored and opened new opportunities for women and contributed time and talent to the community and the Rotary of Grand Rapids’ Service Above Self award, given in recognition of Frederik Meijer, whose humanitarian acts of selfless service made an enduring difference in the lives of others. Most recently, Irwin was named as one of the 200 Most Powerful Business Leaders in West Michigan by the Grand Rapids Business Journal.
Her community involvement extends from the Kent County Park Foundation to the Michigan Women’s Foundation, Hope Network, Girl Scouts and the Cherry Health Foundation, among others. She has been named one of the “50 Most Influential Women in West Michigan” twice by Gemini Publications, and has represented the U.S. in the Long Distance Triathlon and Duathlon World Championships.
Samuel “Buzz” Thomas, III
A Public Affairs professional with nearly 20 years-experience, Thomas spent 14 years in the Michigan legislature, including serving as Democratic Floor Leader in the Senate and as Democratic Leader in the House. He took pride in presenting a well-balanced professional ideology. It translated into regulatory and other expertise in the areas of health care, energy and utility policy, education reform, business development incentives and arts and culture. Thomas, 42, has equal experience and empathy for small and large business owners. Prior to his foray into politics, Thomas was Construction Manager for Parkside Building Company and Avis Tech Partners.
His varied background led him to more than two dozen leadership and other awards ranging from being named the Legislator of the Year in 2005 by the Michigan Association of Regions to earning the Peacemaker Award from Wayne State University. Thomas serves on the boards of the Karmanos Cancer Center of Detroit, Habitat for Humanity of Detroit, The Belle Isle Conservancy, New Urban Learning Schools of Detroit and the Michigan Association of Public School Academies. Buzz is the grandson of the Honorable Willis Ward portrayed in the documentary “Black and Blue.”
2021 Writing Prompt
The year 1974 was fraught with uncertainty. The United States faced greater domestic and international challenges than it had seen since the Great Depression and World War II. In the wake of the Watergate scandal, President Nixon had resigned. The war in Vietnam raged on, taking tens of thousands of American lives. Unemployment levels were high and faith in government was at an all-time low.
At this, our darkest of hours, a Congressman from Michigan was called on to serve in our nation’s highest office. Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as president on August 9th of that year and the weight of the world now rested on his shoulders.
Scripture Writing Challenge
Ford’s life path had been filled with unexpected twists and turns—events that would divert him from his plan and propel him in a new, uncharted direction. This created a sense of resiliency that would not only allow him to thrive through the changes he was facing, but prepare him for the challenges to come. It was this resiliency that made him just the person America needed—one whose character and leadership could right the ship and navigate the country toward hope.
R1 slasher chatslasher! the game. Now in the year 2020, Americans are once again faced with uncertainty, challenge, and division. In some way, all of us have been affected by unforeseen and unprecedented events. Our resiliency has been called upon time and time again to face our challenges and chart a new course.
We invite you to write 500 – 750 words sharing your thoughts on the topic of resiliency. Some ideas include: How do YOU define or measure resiliency? Tell about a time when your resiliency was tested, or when you faced a challenge that helped you grow. Is there someone in your life, or in history, that you admire for their ability to face adversity and come out stronger?
2021 President Gerald R. Ford Student Writing Challenge Rules and Guidelines
(click here)
Students are invited to submit entries online. To enter online, please click link for online submission below. If mailing your essay, please submit to address provided below.
- Easily submit your entry today by uploading a PDF via our online submission
- Or, submit your entry by Mail to the following address by March 12, 2021:
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation
c/o Clare Shubert
303 Pearl Street, NW Grand Rapids, MI 49504
Contacts
5 easy strategies to keep visitors on your website. Utilize the following contacts for questions on the Student Writing Challenge and submissions.
- Clare Shubert: cshubert@38foundation.org / 616-254-0409
2020 President Gerald R. Ford Student Writing Challenge Winners
Final judging is complete for the 2020 President Gerald R. Ford Student Writing Challenge. Our top ten finalists are listed below. Our judges had a very difficult time choosing between the nearly 700 entries this year. They were moved by the meaningful stories that were shared and impressed by the level of writing that was displayed. In light of the health and safety complications surrounding Covid-19, the 2020 awards ceremony looked a little different! Our top ten finalists were presented with their awards at their homes. Check out our winners and photos from these unique awards presentations below.
2020 First Place:Isabel Gil, Forest Hills Eastern High School
2020 Second Place:Lillian Van Gelderen, Hart High School
2020 Third Place:Harlie Choponis, Hart High School
2020 Finalists: Read all essays from Winners & Finalists
Megan Grant, Newaygo High School
Nina Lu, City High Middle School
Ethan Magley, City High Middle School
Carter Meyer, Grand Rapids Christian HS
Kandace Pewee, Grand Rapids Christian HS
Melanie TenElshof, Plymouth Christian HS
Sabra Wolven, Newaygo High School
Out-of-State Award Winner:
Jada Hall, St. Georges Technical High School
2019 Winners(View photos from the 2019 awards program)
Writing Challenges
2019 First Place:Caroline Kuntzman, Forest Hills Northern High School
2019 Second Place:Megan Grant, Newaygo High School
2019 Third Place:Ben Joppich, Catholic Central High School
2019 President Gerald R. Ford Student Essay Challenge Finalists and Winners