The Friends of the University of Missouri Libraries is proud to announce the winners of the 2021 – 2022 Robert J. Stuckey Essay Contest. The contest offers monetary awards of $1,500 for the first-place winner and $750 for the second-place winner. Thirty-seven essays were submitted for the contest this year.

The first-place winner is Mary Schwanke of North Shelby High School in Shelbyville, MO for her essay entitled “17,850 Hours.” The second-place winner is AJ Wildhaber of Hancock High School in St. Louis, MO for their essay entitled “Dead Name.” The Stuckey Essay contest also provides an award of $250 for teachers of the winning students. Congratulations to Kathy Jackson and Brian Murphy for their work with this year’s winners.

Each year the essay contest is open to Missouri High School students in grades 9-12, and only one entry is accepted from each school. Common student topics for essays include literary analyses, accounts of personal experiences, and fictional short stories. Each essay should be originally composed by the student without assistance and should not have been submitted to any previous contest or have been previously published.

The Friends of the Libraries have been affiliated with the University of Missouri Libraries since 1960 and have administered and funded the Robert J. Stuckey Essay Contest since its inception. The late Robert J. Stuckey was a member of the 1963 junior class of Farmington High School and had planned to attend college. He was deeply interested in current events and enjoyed reading. This annual contest is presented in memory of him.

Thank you to this year’s Stuckey Essay judges, Shelby Catalano, Jody Feldman, Ann Campion Riley, Laurie Tourtellot, and Steve Weinberg, all of whom serve on the Friends of the University of Missouri Libraries Council.