Language Arts 123 Competition

Language Arts 123 Awards - Winners Announced!

The 2025 competition is now closed. Congratulations to all of our talented winners!

Adult Category
First place: Suzanne LaPierre(PDF, 119KB)
Runner-Up: Cathy Cruise(PDF, 122KB)

High School Category
First Place: Ian Jang(PDF, 152KB)

Middle School Category
First Place: Eleanor Hwang(PDF, 89KB)

Elementary School Category
First Place: Samuel Hwang(PDF, 84KB)

Thank you to everyone who participated and shared their stories with us!

The City of Fairfax Commission on the Arts

The competition topic for 2025 is conflict resolution.

In a world that's more and more inclined to vehement disagreement, how do we achieve constructive handling of differences? Write an essay proposing the best type(s) of conflict resolution, defending your arguments. Alternatively, you may offer a short story demonstrating how a controversy was resolved amicably.

Eligibility:

Contestants must be

Fourth through sixth graders
Seventh through ninth graders
Tenth through twelfth graders
Adults (college age and beyond)
Individuals who do not derive their primary income from writing
Neither related to nor household residents of any City of Fairfax Commission on the Arts member

Contestants must also meet any of the following criteria:

Reside, are employed, or own property in the City of Fairfax
Attend public or private high school in the City of Fairfax
Reside and are home schooled within the City of Fairfax

Submission Criteria:

Fourth - Sixth Grade

800 – 1000 words
Double Spaced
In English
Never commercially published

Seventh – Ninth Grade

1000 – 2000 words
Double Spaced
In English
Never commercially published

Tenth – Twelfth Grade

1500 – 2500 words
Double Spaced
In English
Never commercially published

Adult

1500 – 2500 words
Double Spaced
In English
Never commercially published

Judging Criteria:

Entries will be judged on structure, clarity, originality, fluency, coherence, and persuasiveness. Correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, word usage, etc. are essentials of good writing and will be basic judging points for every competitive entry. Elementary school-level entries should reflect mastery of the Common Core English Language Arts Standards for entrant’s grade.

Profanity, obscenity, or "hate speech" types of discriminatory language will be immediate disqualifiers.

Language Arts 123 Committee members will serve as judges for competition entries.

Competition winners will receive the following awards:

Adult First Prize - $300
Adult Runner-Up - $150

Tenth through twelfth grade First Prize - $200
Tenth through twelfth grade Runner-Up - $100

Seventh through ninth grade First Prize - $150
Seventh through ninth grade Runner-Up - $75

Fourth through sixth grade First Prize - $100
Fourth through sixth grade Runner-Up - $50

Deadline for submissions: 6:00 p.m. March 28, 2025.

The winners will be announced not later than 6:00 p.m. on April 11, 2025.