The Friends of the University of Missouri Libraries is proud to announce the winners of the 2021 Robert J. Stuckey Essay Contest. The first-place winner will be awarded a $1,500 scholarship and the second-place winner is awarded a $750 scholarship. The first-place winner is Ryan Copeland of Sherwood Cass R-8 in Creighton, MO for her essay entitled “Eulogy to My Childhood.” The second-place winner is Emma Behrman of Visitation Academy in St. Louis, MO for her essay entitled “The Asian Main Character.” Each teacher of these students, Johnna Mueller and Susan Shortt, will also receive a $250 award.
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. Each entry must address one or more aspects of books or reading. 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 Libraries and the University of Missouri since 1960. The Friends have administered the Robert J. Stuckey Essay Contest for the University for the past several years. 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 vitally 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, who are all a part of our Friends of the University of Missouri Libraries council. Judges Bill Carner, Shelby Catalano, Jody Feldman and Laurie Tourtellot had their work cut out for them with 43 great essay submissions.
You can read the winning essays here.