Essay Contest
“What My Father Means to Me” Essay Contest
NOTE: This year’s What My Father Means to Me Essay Contests in Minnesota and Kansas City have been suspended. Thank you for your interest in participating in the Contest and leading students to consider the value of an involved father or father figure. Some teachers are going ahead with the essay writing assignment and having their students share their essay with their father or father figure. We applaud and encourage such efforts!
The “What My Father Means to Me” Essay Contest was created by the National Center for Fathering (NCF) in 1992 in an effort to raise awareness about the importance of fathering. For the past two decades, the Essay Contest has given a voice to over 1,000,000 school-aged children, allowing them the opportunity to express their thoughts and feelings on the topic, “What My Father Means to Me.” Their words speak loudly to the important role fathers and father figures play in the lives of children.
Before Father’s Day each year, NCF hosts the Father of the Year Celebration to spotlight students who placed in the essay contest and to name a “Father of the Year”.
The “What My Father Means to Me” Essay Contest is made possible through the collaborative efforts of corporations, local businesses and volunteers committed to inspiring and equipping men to be the involved fathers, grandfathers, and father figures their children need. The Father of the Year Celebration event celebrates the dads and father figures nominated by children.
2017 To Be Determined
2015 “What My Father Means To Me” Essay Contests
Essay Winners
& Finalists (PDF)1st Place Essays (PDF)
Essay Winners
& Finalists (PDF)1st Place Essays (PDF)
Our Sponsors & Partners
Please join us in thanking and congratulating our sponsors and partners. These generous organizations support the “What my Father Means to Me” Essay Contest and the Father of the Year Celebrations through the provision of gifts and rewards for the winners and participants as well as volunteers to read the thousands of essays that are received each year. Without their generous and enthusiastic support, the “What my Father Means to Me” Essay Contests would not be possible.
2014 “What My Father Means To Me” Essay Contests
Essay Winners
& Finalists (PDF)1st Place Essays (PDF)
Essay Winners
& Finalists (PDF)1st Place Essays (PDF)
2013 “What My Father Means To Me” Essay Contests
1st Place
Essays (PDF)Father of the Year
Celebration photos
(Facebook)1st Place
Essays (PDF)Father of the Year
Celebration photos
(Facebook)