The contest is open to all Northeast Ohio grade 6-12 students in Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit, Trumbull and Wayne counties. Students can attend a public, private, religious, home, online or charter school. Students who entered previous years (with the exception of past scholarship winners) can participate again, but must submit entirely new essays. Immediate family members of the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage staff and Board of Trustees, The Malrite Company and the Maltz Family Foundation cannot participate.