About the Veritas Awards
The Veritas Awards recognize excellence in storytelling and media creation by high school students while encouraging creativity, integrity, and professional excellence.
The competition celebrates students whose work demonstrates outstanding communication, creativity, craftsmanship, and ethical storytelling across journalism, public relations, creative writing, film, and photography.
ELIGIBILITY & ELIGIBLE WORK
The competition is open to:
Students currently enrolled in grades 9–12.
Public schools
Private schools
Charter schools
Homeschool students
Career and technical education programs
Students must have created the work while enrolled in high school.
Entries must:
Be the original work of the student(s).
Have been created during the current academic year.
Comply with all applicable copyright laws.
COMPETITION DIVISIONS & CATEGORIES
The Veritas Awards are organized into the following divisions and categories:
Multimedia Journalism
News Story
Covering a live news event. It could be breaking news, but not necessarily.
Feature Story
A feature on a topic, person (or group of people), or an event. Not breaking news.
Photography
JPEG, 300 dpi
Sports Story
News OR feature story that is sports-related (i.e. an exciting game story or a feature on a student-athlete or group of student-athletes)
Communication
Social Media Campaign
A cohesive series of posts (across one or multiple platforms) built around a single goal, cause, or message. Should demonstrate strategy, not just individual posts.
Promotional Communication Design
A designed piece — such as a brochure, flyer, infographic, or poster — that informs or persuades an audience about a topic, product, or cause.
Event Promotion
A campaign or single design (e.g., poster, digital flyer, teaser video) created to promote a specific upcoming event.
Yearbook
A yearbook spread or page demonstrating strong design, storytelling, and coverage of school life.
Creative Writing
Short Story
One (1) Short story, between 1000-2000 words double-spaced in a PDF file. Each story should have a title.
Poetry
One to three (1-3) poems, up to five (5) pages total, in a single attached PDF file. Each poem should be titled and must start on a new page.
Flash Fiction
One (1) Flash Fiction story, between 750-1000 words double-spaced in a PDF file. Each story should have a title.
Personal Essay
One (1) personal essay, between 600-1000 words double-spaced in a PDF file. Each story should have a title.
Film & Television
Narrative Short Film
All films must be fictional and under eight minutes long including credits
Documentary Short Film
All films must be non-fictional and under eight minutes long including credits
Commercial
Video must promote a product or service and be between 15 seconds and two minutes long.
Music Video
Musical performance of an original song.
Photography (Non-journalistic)
Ready to Apply?
INDIVIDUAL & TEAM ENTRIES
Individual categories may be entered by one student.
Collaborative categories may include multiple students.
Awards will recognize all credited contributors.
Students may submit multiple entries.
The same project may only be entered into one category.
Different versions of the same project may not be submitted in multiple categories unless specifically permitted.
Some categories limit the total number of entries by entrant, which is outlined in the submission form.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Each submission must include:
Entry title
Student name(s)
Student’s school email address
School
Grade level
Teacher/Adviser and email address
Category
Each category may have more specific requirements. See the entry form for more information.
SCHEDULE & DEADLINES
September 7, 2026 - Call for entries
December 11, 2026 - Submission deadline
January 25, 2027 - Awards announced
ORIGINALITY, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & ETHICS
Originality
All work must be substantially created by the student.
Students must possess all necessary permissions for:
music
photographs
video
artwork
graphics
fonts
Unauthorized copyrighted material may result in disqualification.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence may be used as a creative or production tool when its use is disclosed by the entrant. Judges will evaluate the student's originality, creativity, decision-making, and craftsmanship rather than the capabilities of the software used.
Entrants must disclose significant AI assistance in their entry form with explanation.
Perhaps there should be an area on the form where all students are to say yes or no about whether or not they used AI and if so in what way.
Good idea on the AI note. If they check a box saying this work used AI or not, then they are taking responsibility either way.
Ethics
Entries should demonstrate:
Honesty
Respect
Integrity
Responsible storytelling
Entries containing plagiarism, uncited use of AI, fabricated information (category specific), or unlawful use of copyrighted material may be disqualified.
Disqualification
The Veritas Awards reserve the right to remove entries for:
plagiarism
copyright infringement
false information
inappropriate content
failure to meet submission requirements
Frequently Asked Questions
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Yes. All entries must be submitted by a teacher, school representative, or approved educational sponsor to verify eligibility and originality.
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Yes, provided the student owns the rights to the work and it meets all Veritas Awards eligibility requirements.
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Not necessarily. The Veritas Awards recognize excellence rather than ranking entries. Judges may withhold awards if submissions do not meet the required standard.
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Entries may not be updated once they have been submitted.
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Award recipients will be announced on January 25, 2027 via email, veritasau.com, and press release. Winning schools and students will also be notified following the judging process by email.