Check out the criteria for this 1,000 word essay that could win you $10,000 and a free trip to Boston.  In his book, Profiles in Courage, Kennedy wrote about eight American elected officials who he believed demonstrated political courage. 

www.jfklibrary.org 

The due date for submission is January 7, 2012.  Your job, if you choose to accept it, is to write about and analyze an act of political courage performed by a U.S. official who served during or after 1956 (the year Profiles was published).  The issue that you analyze can be at any level – local, state, national or international.  You are encouraged to use primary sources and use a variety of sources (including one non-Internet source). 

You have to register online here –http://www.jfklibrary.org/Education/Profile-in-Courage-Essay-Contest/Registration-and-Submission/Registration-and-Submission-Form.aspx

Read previous winning essays here – http://www.jfklibrary.org/Education/Profile-in-Courage-Essay-Contest/Past-Winning-Essays.aspx  (note that only one senior has won in the past seven years). 

As always, I am willing to help you with this.  Good luck.