Salem State’s Center for Justice and Liberation Announces 2026 MLK Essay Contest
Submissions open to elementary, middle and high school students with $100 prize
SALEM (Dec. 2, 2025) – The Salem State University Center for Justice and Liberation is accepting submissions for the 2026 Martin Luther King, Jr., Essay Contest, the Center announced Monday.
The essay subject and theme for this year’s contest is ‘Mission Possible II: Building Community, Uniting a Nation in a Nonviolent Way.’
Essays can be e-mailed to CJL@salemstate.edu.
The contest, co-sponsored by the Salem Human Rights Coalition, is open to Salem Public Schools elementary, middle and high school students with a prize of $100 to the winning essay in each category.
The deadline for submissions is Friday, Dec. 19 at 5 p.m.
Essay winners will be announced at the Center for Justice and Liberation 36th Annual MLK Luncheon Monday, Jan. 26 at Veterans Memorial Hall in the Ellison Campus Center.
Last year’s essay winners were each from the Horace Mann Laboratory School: Enmanuel de la Cruz Ureña, Erin Tafua and Johnny San, now sixth graders at the Collins Middle School. Rosely Mojica, then a fifth grader student at HMLS, was named a runner-up.
For more information, contact Salem State’s Center for Justice and Liberation at CJL@salemstate.edu.
About Salem Public Schools
Salem Public Schools is an urban public school district in Salem, Massachusetts, a small, diverse city with a proud maritime and immigrant history. Our leaders and our teachers are passionate about education and understand the urgency of improving student achievement with equity and social-emotional needs as the lens through which we view our work. We respect and value the racial, cultural, and linguistic diversity of our students and their families, and have a strong commitment to the Salem community. Salem Public Schools staff unconditionally serves each of our 4,000 students across 11 schools regardless of ability or language.
