Student Achievements
We are proud to celebrate our Aralia students for their outstanding achievements in the 2025 New York Times Summer Reading Contest! Just a few weeks ago, our students brought home two awards, including a championship title. Now, we are excited to share that three more Aralia students have earned global recognition in this prestigious competition:
🏆 1 Winner
🥈 1 Runner-Up
🌟 1 Honorable Mention
The New York Times Summer Reading Contest is open to students aged 13–19 worldwide, with a new competition held each week and intense global competition. The awards our students earned have extremely selective global winning rates:
- Winner: Global selection rate ≤ 0.1%
- Runner-Up: Selection rate ≤ 2%
- Honorable Mention: Earned by only 3% of participants
These achievements reflect the hard work and dedication of our teachers and students. With the guidance of Aralia’s award-winning instructors, our students have successfully expressed their ideas in their competition submissions, earning these prestigious awards.
About the New York Times Summer Reading Contest
Since 2010, the New York Times Summer Reading Contest has invited middle and high school students worldwide to engage critically with current events while practicing their writing and analysis skills. Over 80,000 students have participated in this global competition so far.
Each summer, the contest invites students to select an article, video, podcast, photo, or interactive piece from The New York Times that captures their interest and respond with a short written piece or video. Every week, judges from the Times newsroom select their favorite responses, and the winning entries are published on the New York Times website.
The 2025 contest is currently open and will run through August 15.
Who Can Participate
- Open to middle and high school students aged 13-19 worldwide.
- Entries must be completed individually (no team or group submissions allowed).
How to Participate
Students select an article or piece of content from The New York Times that interests them and respond either through a short written piece or a video.
- A short written piece (up to 1,500 characters, including the headline or URL), or
- A video (up to 90 seconds, stating or displaying the headline of the content).
Your response should demonstrate:
- A personal connection to the chosen content. Critical thinking about the topic.
- Reference to specific details or quotes from the article.
- Your unique writing or presentation style.
Entry Requirements
For Written Entries:
- Maximum length: 1,500 characters (about 250 words).
- Include the full URL or headline of the NYT content (counts toward the character limit).
For Video Entries:
- Maximum length: 90 seconds.
- Clearly state or display the headline of the content.
- Ensure clear video and audio quality, good lighting, and minimal background noise.
- NYT suggests filming yourself, inanimate objects, animals, or the chosen article, avoiding close-ups of people in public to protect privacy.
Contest Timeline
The contest runs weekly until August 15, 2025. Each Friday starting in early June, the New York Times will post the prompt: “What got your attention in The Times this week?”
You will have until the following Friday to submit your response. Students can enter every week or select specific weeks to participate, but only one submission per week is allowed
Official Contest Website
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/learning/our-16th-annual-summer-reading-contest.html
Join the Next Wave of Winners with Aralia
The NYC Summer Reading Contest is a favorite summer opportunity for many Aralia students, with numerous students winning awards in the competition each year. At Aralia, you will learn from instructors who have a minimum of eight years of teaching experience and backgrounds at top high schools and universities. With their guidance, you can sharpen your critical reading and writing skills and confidently prepare your entries for the contest.
Writing Competition – Summer
This class is offered in the summer every year. Students from 13 to 19 years old wanting to learn how to shape their written English into effective and publishable creative pieces will find this particular Writing Competition course very exciting. The class will be shown a range of tools to learn the nuances of controlled, purposeful writing, including: figurative language, effective structuring and specific forms that they will apply to their own pieces.
Writing Competition – Winter
This class is offered in the winter every year. Students from 13 to 18 years old wanting to learn how to shape their written English into effective and publishable creative pieces will find this particular Writing Competition course very exciting. The class will be shown a range of tools to learn the nuances of controlled, purposeful writing, including: figurative language, effective structuring and specific forms that they will apply to their own pieces.
Writing Competition – Spring
This class is offered in the spring every year. Students from 13 to 18 years old wanting to learn how to shape their written English into effective and publishable creative pieces will find this particular Writing Competition course very exciting. The class will be shown a range of tools to learn the nuances of controlled, purposeful writing, including: figurative language, effective structuring and specific forms that they will apply to their own pieces.
