Waldman Competition Teacher Hub - Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh

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Next Steps
Conducting the Competition
Key Dates
Submitting to the Holocaust Center
Questions?

Next Steps

Step 1 – Check the list of registered schools/Teacher Sponsors to see if your school is already registered to participate in the competition. If not, proceed to step 2.

If another teacher at your school has already signed up as a Teacher Sponsor, please contact them about participation. Multiple teachers at a school can participate in the competition, but we ask that you coordinate and designate a single point-of-contact for your correspondence/work with the Center.

Step 2 – Click here to register your school and become the “Teacher Sponsor” of your school’s Waldman Arts and Writing Competition (registration closes January 10, 2026). Please note, only teachers (or administrators) may register to be a Teacher Sponsor. Each participating Teacher Sponsor will receive a $50 stipend at the end of the competition. If one school has multiple teachers involved, there will only be one $50 sponsor prize allotted to the school, disbursed to the Teacher Sponsor who is point-of-contact.

Step 3 – Review the information for Teacher Sponsors below for details on conducting Round 1 competition and submitting work for Round 2.

Step 4 – Review and share the competition instruction and resources with your students. They are available on the Student Hub webpage and in the PDFs linked below.

Conducting the Competition

The Waldman Arts and Writing Competition uses a three-round format.

The first round is held at the school level. Teacher Sponsors coordinate their own in-school competition and judging, to be run as the school sees fit. Each participating school then selects up to 4 students for high school (up to 1 per category) and up to 3 students for middle school (up to 1 per category) as round one finalists/in-school winners.

Teacher Sponsors then submit the Round One finalists to the Holocaust Center for Round Two/regional judging. Teacher Sponsors will receive submission instructions via email on February 1, 2026. The deadline to submit Round One finalists is April 1, 2026. The Holocaust Center’s judging panels determine up to seven category winners (one per category) from the round one finalists. Category winners are announced in April.

The category winner with the highest score is named the grand prize winner in Round 3. The grand prize winner is announced at the annual awards ceremony in May (Date TBA).

Key Dates

November 2, 2025: Teachers at schools in western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and West Virginia can begin registering as “Teacher Sponsors” by using the form found here.

January 10, 2026: Final day to sign up as a Teacher Sponsor.

February 1, 2026: Sponsors can begin submitting the winning entries of their school’s in-school judging for consideration in Round 2. Instructions on how to submit will be sent to Sponsors via email.

April 1, 2026: Final day for sponsors to submit their school’s finalists for Round 2 consideration. Submissions must be submitted by 5:30 pm.

April 2026: Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh judging period.

April 2026: Up to seven Round 2 winners, including one Grand Prize winner, will be announced as part of the Holocaust Center’s Genocide Awareness Month programming.

May 2025: Awards Ceremony (Date TBA)

Submitting to the Holocaust Center

Submissions to the Holocaust Center open February 2026 for Round 2 and Round 3 consideration. Instructions on how to submit will be sent to Sponsors via email.

On a SEPARATE PAGE(s)* from the work, please include:
- Student name, grade, and contact information (student and parent emails are recommended)
- Student’s artist statement, if required for that category
- MLA-style bibliography

*It is required that this information is submitted on a separate page so that judging can take place anonymously. It is ok to submit within the same PDF file, as long as the pages are separate.

Award Categories:

Middle School, grades 6-8 (3 categories total): Poetry; 2-D Art; 3-D Art
High School, grades 9-12 (4 categories total): Poetry; 2-D Art; 3-D Art; Essay

Register Here!

Questions?

View the FAQs below or email our Waldman Coordinator Julia Gaetano (jgaetano@hcpgh.org).

What geographic area is eligible for participating in the competition?

For the 2025-2026 competition, we will accept submissions from schools located in Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and West Virginia.

Do students have to be “sponsored” by a school or can they enter the contest on their own?

Student work must be submitted via a registered teacher sponsor, who can be a teacher or administrator. Works submitted without a school/teacher sponsorship will not be eligible for awards.

Are students who attend a home school, alternative school, or other nontraditional education center eligible to participate?

Yes, all educational facilities that serve grades 6 – 12 are eligible to participate in the contest.

Can a student use images from the Internet in their project?

Written permission from the copyright holder is required for images and film clips that do not belong to the student or are not in the public domain.

For how long is the window for teachers to register as teacher sponsors?

January 1o, 2026 is the final day for teachers to sign up as Teacher Sponsors.

Can one student submit work in multiple categories?

We can only accept up to one entry per student for Round 2 judging.

However, since Round 1 judging is to be run as the teacher sponsor sees fit, they may allow students to submit in more than one category for in-school judging, so long as a single student isn't submitted to the Holocaust Center as a Round 1 winner for multiple categories.

Can multiple teachers be teacher sponsors?

Yes, but we ask that you designate a single point-of-contact for your correspondence/work with the Center. There will only be one $50 sponsor prize allotted to each school, disbursed to this point-of-contact, regardless of the number of participating teachers.

I am an educator who signed up to be a teacher sponsor, but I can no longer do it. What should I do?

Another teacher must sign up to be the teacher sponsor, or we will be unable to consider submissions from your school. It is your responsibility to find a substitute.

Can work be submitted after the deadline?

We are unable to accept any submissions after the deadline, April 1, 2026 at 5:30 pm.