HIGH SCHOOL BIG IDEA ESSAY COMPETITION Guidelines

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Competition Guidelines

The tecBRIDGE High School Big Idea Essay Competition is open to individual high school and home school students living in the following Northeastern Pennsylvania counties:


  • Berks
  • Lackawanna
  • Luzerne
  • Monroe
  • Pike
  • Schuylkill
  • Susquehanna
  • Wayne


Top scoring submissions answer the essay question prompts demonstrating originality, reasoning, persuasiveness and personal engagement. They are also distinguished by: 


  • Specific lived experiences that provide insights or lessons learned.
  • Demonstrated initiative to “get out from behind the computer” and discuss the topic with others. 


tecBRIDGE recognizes that Artificial Intelligence can be an important learning tool and encourages its use in the Competition (we will also encourage our Judges to assess AI usage in their scoring). tecBRIDGE believes Artificial Intelligence best serves student learning when it used for: 


  • Brainstorming
  • Research
  • Spelling and Grammar Checking


We do not encourage Artificial Intelligence to generate full paragraphs or the entire essay; please cite all references including use of any AI platforms. 


Essay submissions should not exceed 1,000 words and follow standard APA guidelines including:


  • 1” Margins
  • Double Spacing
  • 12 pt. Font

 

Five finalist essays will be selected by our Judging Panel according to a formal scoring rubric.Each of the five finalists will be invited to meet with the Judging Panel for a 15 minute Zoom interview; interview results will be incorporated into the final Essay Scoring Rubric. 


The winner of the tecBRIDGE Big Idea Essay Competition will receive a $1,000 stipend to be used towards future education expenses; all other BIEC finalists will receive a $500 stipend. 


The tecBRIDGE High School Big Idea Essay Competition Champion will be announced at the 24th Annual tecBRIDGE Business Plan Competition Awards Event at the FM Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday, April 29th, 2026. 


If you have a question on the Competition, please contact us at dwebster@tecbridgepa.org