Frequently Asked Questions

Middle School and High School prompts/guidelines are available online. Note that the deadline for the Literary and Arts Project will always be March 1st, or the next school day if March 1 falls on a weekend or another non-school day.

Click here for a description about Narrative Poetry.

A submission can be as long as needed to address the prompt, as long as it does not go beyond the maximum number of words.

A student can ask teachers or counselors to support them when submitting an entry. Teachers or counselors can receive awards by having students submit entries or having students join them at the Holocaust Remembrance Service.

For many years the awards were savings bonds. Then for a few years the awards were iPads and Tablets. Recently it was suggested that gift cards would allow students/teachers to purchase books, or whatever supplies or rewards they choose.

If submissions follow the guidelines to keep entrant's identity safe, the judges cannot know who submitted the entry or which school the entrant is from.

Judges are supposed to have winners determined during the first week of April. We will then contact teachers of students with top entries to verify the submissions were checked for plagiarism and AI usage. The intention is to inform student who will receive awards by the middle of April.

Teachers who have had students submit any entries are already eligible for an award, and teachers with at least 3 students attending the service will also automatically receive an award.

Please check this website each year for the prompts, which should be posted with sufficient time to be able to submit entries by the March 1st deadline. While attempts are made to contact each school, and parish school coordinators, sometimes there are complications (email addresses no longer valid, mail not delivered, etc.) Even if you do not receive the prompts, check the details on this website. If you still have questions, email [email protected].

Teachers should help students to hone the submission so that it is worthy of submission. If insufficient entries meet the basic guidelines, then not all prizes will be awarded.

The number of submissions vary each year, but often the total number of submissions for all categories is more than 100.

We feel that it is very important that students learn about the Holocaust for historical and humanistic reasons. When students are aware of this horrible time in the history of humanity, hopefully they will feel bolder about preventing injustice, and become more sensitive to the plight of others.

The Holocaust Remembrance Service traditionally is scheduled at 3:00 pm on a Sunday that is close to Yom HaShoah, usually in April or early May. 

The service usually lasts one to one and a half hours.

The ceremony typically includes:

• Appropriate musical passages
• Welcome and Benediction
• Proclamation and presentation by the Mayors of Shreveport and Bossier City
• Lighting 11 candles in memory of the 11 million victims of the Shoah/Holocaust
• Keynote speaker and/or Special program
• Mourners' prayer
• Closing remarks

Dress should be appropriately respectful for a house of worship.

The intention for the service is to be welcoming to all faiths and people who wish to remember the lives that were lost during the Holocaust, and are committed to strive to obliterate injustice wherever it is found.

Contact the Northwest Louisiana Jewish Federation at 318-868-1200 or [email protected].

Make donations to Northwest Louisiana Jewish Federation (245 Southfield Road, Shreveport, LA 71105) and specify that it is for the Holocaust Literary & Arts Project, or donate online here. Thank you for your support!