Opportunities for Students

The Junior League of Washington (JLW) is committed to supporting pathways to opportunities through improved access to education, professional and financial development, and capacity building resources in our community. Our annual Meg Graham Scholarship is an important piece of fulfilling our mission.  This volunteer service award was established in 1982 in honor of the late Reverend Margaret M. Graham, a former member of JLW and former President of the Association of Junior Leagues International. The $10,000 scholarship is awarded in her memory.

MEG GRAHAM SCHOLARSHIP: CELEBRATING SERVICE AND LEADERSHIP

The Junior League of Washington (JLW) is pleased to announce Kishaé Belt as the winner of the 2022-23 Meg Graham Scholarship: Celebrating Service and Leadership. Ms. Belt impressed our interview committee with her commitment to volunteering, scholastic excellence, and being an asset to the community.

The Scholarship Committee is also honored to present this year’s Book Awards to Emilie Kpadea and Alexander Liesegang. Both Ms. Kpadea and Mr. Liesegang are outstanding young people that are committed to community service and social justice.  

We hope you join us in congratulating our finalists and recipients. The field of applications was impressive, and we are honored to have met these students through this process. JLW is dedicated to developing exceptionally qualified civic leaders who are passionate about disrupting cycles of poverty and creating pathways to opportunity for those in our Washington, DC community. We hope to see many of these applicants join our growing community of over 2,300 trained volunteers when they complete their college careers. 

Applications for the 2023-24 academic year can be found here.

KEY SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION DATES

  • Friday, March 1, 2024 I Application Deadline
  • Saturday, April 13 or Sunday, April 14, 2024 I In person interviews for selected finalists
  • Wednesday, April 24, 2024 I Scholarship winner notified by this date

For additional details or questions, please email scholarship@jlw.org.

25th Annual Youth Poetry Contest

We are thrilled to announce the Junior League of Washington’s 25th Annual Youth Poetry Contest for students of DC public school, DC public charter schools, and schools of the Archdiocese of Washington. We look forward to reading their interpretations of this year’s theme, Grow.

Students may submit up to two poems on this year’s theme. Entries will be judged by a panel of JLW volunteers on the basis of content, originality, creativity, and clarity. Selected poems will be published in the 25th edition of Capitol Cadence, the JLW’s annual collection of student poetry. Student poets whose works are selected will be invited to read their poems at our Young Poets Celebration Ceremony in May 2024. 

Please see below for contest details:

  • Students in grades four through eight are eligible if they are either:
    • Enrolled in a DC Public or Public Charter School, or affiliated with the Washington Archdiocese.
    • Enrolled in an after-school program with a provider who is either listed as a DCPS Partner or has previously been reviewed by the Junior League of Washington through our Grants and Volunteer Resources program.
  • Poems must be submitted by a teacher, librarian, school administrator, or program administrator as a PDF attachment via email to poetrycontest@jlw.org. Multiple student entries per email are acceptable but each PDF may contain only one submission.
  • Each poem submitted must include in the top right corner the name and grade of the student, school name, name of the submitting teacher, librarian, or administrator, and the submitter’s email address.
  • The deadline for submission is Friday, March 29, 2024 by 6 p.m. ET. Late entries will not be accepted.
  • Selected poems will be announced in April; the poets whose works are selected will be notified via the email address of the submitter. 

Questions about the poetry contest can be directed to poetrycontest@jlw.org.