Congratulations to the following students who were selected by a panel of judges as the 2016-17 WaCLA High School Essay Contest winners:

First Place
McKenzie Murray (PDF)
Olympia High School, Olympia, WA

Second Place
Willow Cook (PDF)
Stillaguamish Valley Learning Center, Arlington, WA

Third Place
Thomas Grahn (PDF)
River Ridge High School, Lacey, WA

The First Prize winner earned a $3,000 scholarship to a Washington Consortium for the Liberal Arts (WaCLA) school, the Second Prize winner earned a $2,000 scholarship to a WaCLA institution, and the Third Prize winner earned a $1,000 scholarship to a WaCLA school. Winners must be admitted to and matriculate in a WaCLA institution to receive their scholarship. Participating institutions can be viewed on the Member Institutions page.

This contest is part of the Washington Consortium for the Liberal Arts outreach program designed to promote the power and value of the liberal arts. Numerous colleges and universities, both public and private, two-year and four-year, all across the state of Washington have come together to create a cohesive, coherent voice.

The student essays responded, in no more than 500 words, to the following prompt:

A liberal arts education is characterized, in part, by the idea that understanding many different ways of knowing can help students become effective and responsible members of their communities. Choose a current controversial issue in your community and explain how you think a liberal arts education would shape your understanding of that issue from different perspectives.

On behalf of WaCLA, thank you for participating!

Michael Zimmerman, Vice President for Academic Affairs

The Evergreen State College

Mission Statement:

The Washington Consortium for the Liberal Arts (WaCLA) is an association of Washington state public and private higher education institutions, organizations and individuals promoting the value of a liberal arts education to the people and communities of the state.