Middle School Students
For grades 6-8. Everyone has a story to tell!
The mission of PBD’s Young Playwrights 1-Minute Play Contest is to motivate young people to learn about themselves and discover their individuality, and to inspire creativity by giving them a voice in crafting their own unique story.
Submission Information:
- The contest is open to all Palm Beach County students in grades 6 – 8
- Submission deadline: Friday, February 12 @ 5pm
- All plays must be submitted by an educator or school administrator. We do not accept submissions from individual students
- All plays must be 1-minute in length. We do not accept longer plays
- Plays must be submitted as Word or PDF documents
- All plays will be run through an AI detector. Any play written with AI will be disqualified
- Educators submitting multiple plays should organize them in a folder and submit by email, Google Drive, or Dropbox to Gary Cadwallader:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - Please be sure all plays have a separate title page with the following: Title of Play, Author, School, Teacher’s name, Teacher’s email address, and school phone number
- All entries will receive a confirmation after submission
- Finalists announced: Tuesday, February 24 @ 5pm
- Finalists’ revisions due: Friday, March 5 @ 5pm
- Winner orientation/photo shoot: Tuesday, March 30 @ 6pm
- Writers’ workshop: Saturday, April 3 @ 10am
- Rehearsals: April 17 or 18
- Performance: Wednesday, April 21 @ 7pm
Contest Details:
- Up to 40 finalists will be selected. All finalists will be given one week to revise and resubmit their plays
- Up to 20 winners will be chosen by a panel of professional playwrights and theatre practitioners using a carefully constructed rubric
- Winning plays will be assigned a professional director, and revisions will continue throughout the rehearsal process
- Each winner will receive a $100 cash prize and a beautiful anthology that includes their play.
- Congratulations to the 2026 Winners
Lesson Plans
PBD offers a detailed five-day lesson plan with supporting documents and benchmarks that give educators a clear, strong sequence for creating a 1-minute play. Educators are encouraged to use, adapt, or modify any plans that work best for their students
Lesson Plans
Playwrighting Rubric
Congratulations to the 2026 Winners
| Play | Playwright | School | Teacher |
| Assembly Required | Nate Colton | American Heritage School | Elyse Anderson |
| A Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing | Loren Lagos | Atlantic Christian Academy | Courtney Anello |
| Foie Gross!! | Chase Rivera | Atlantic Christian Academy | Courtney Anello |
| Breaking Bag | Daniella Lent | Bak Middle School of the Arts | Eric Frederickson |
| The Ember Lily | Luna Wilson | Bak Middle School of the Arts | Eric Frederickson |
| Just Us | Janelle Smith | Carver Middle School | Amisstika Goldwire |
| A Mom’s Worst Nightmare | Mia Chimenti | Eagles Landing Middle School | Leah Carolan |
| A “New” Drink | Daria Morgan | Eagles Landing Middle School | Leah Carolan |
| Inheritance | Chloe McCourt | G-Star School of the Arts | Joanna Bair |
| Time to Shine! | Theo Correa | Loggers’ Run Middle School | Joe Ametrano and Sara Piedra |
| Harry’s Secret | Sheldon Escarmant | Loggers’ Run Middle School | Joe Ametrano and Sara Piedra |
| The Great Race | Paloma Nussbaum | Loggers’ Run Middle School | Joe Ametrano and Sara Piedra |
| Green With Envy | Aaliyah Pizarro | Loggers’ Run Middle School | Joe Ametrano and Sara Piedra |
| Personal Space | Sagan Flanzbaum | Unity School | Tara Weidenfeller |
| Logic vs. Laughter | Calista Cha | Watson B. Duncan Middle School | Courtney Hess |
| UNO! | Khanh Nguyen Le | Watson B. Duncan Middle School | Courtney Hess |
| Pluto’s Disconnect | Carmen Elosegui Lopez | Watson B. Duncan Middle School | Courtney Hess |
| A Momentary Lapse | Alexandra Peña | Watson B. Duncan Middle School | Courtney Hess |
| The Bourgeois Conspiracy | Aaron Zurita | Watson B. Duncan Middle School | Courtney Hess |
| The Way it Works | Jackson Billy | Woodlands Middle School | Jeannette Alfaro |
| Runners-up | |||
| Dance Fight | Rachel Hernandez Corrigan | G-Star School of the Arts | Gretchen Porro |
| He Looked at Me | Ramey Hamilton | Bak Middle School of the Arts |
High School Students
Our goal is to introduce the joy of writing for live theatre to young people, and to give teens a creative voice in expressing their thoughts and ideas. Our program encourages students to write about subjects that are meaningful to them, and to give educators tools to incorporate playwriting into their theatre or language arts classrooms.
Submission Information
- The contest is open to all Palm Beach County students in grades 9 – 12
- Submission deadline: Friday, November 13 @ 5pm
- All plays must be submitted by an educator or school administrator
- All plays must be 10 minutes long. We do not accept one-act or full-length plays at this time
- Plays must be submitted as Word or PDF documents
- All plays will be run through an AI detector. Any play written with AI will be disqualified.
- Educators submitting multiple plays should organize them in a folder and submit by email, Google Drive, or Dropbox to Gary Cadwallader:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - Please be sure all plays have a title page with the following: Title of play, Author, School, Teacher's name, Teacher's email address and telephone number
- All entries will receive a confirmation email after submission
- Winners announced: Thursday, December 17
- Winner orientation/photo shoot: Wednesday, January 6 @ 6pm
- Writer’s Workshop: Saturday, January 23
- Rehearsals: February 20 or 21
- Performance: Tuesday, February 23 @ 7pm
Contest Details:
- 20 finalists will be selected. Each finalist will be given professional feedback for improving and revising their play
- Each finalist will be given one week for revisions
- Up to 10 winning plays are chosen by a panel of professional playwrights and theatre practitioners using a carefully constructed rubric. The rubric is found in the PBD lesson plans
- Winning plays will be assigned a professional director and actors, and revisions will continue throughout the rehearsal process
- Each winner will receive a $250 cash prize and a beautifully published anthology that includes their play
For more information, please see our Frequently Asked Questions
Lesson Plans
PBD offers a detailed five-day lesson plan with supporting documents and benchmarks that give educators a clear, strong sequence for creating a 10-minute play.
However, educators are not required to use PBD's lesson plans. Please feel free to use any lesson plan that complements your process. Educators may also choose to incorporate a portion of PBD's lesson plan into their curriculum.
Congratulations to the 2026 Winners
| Play | Playwright | School | Grade | Teacher |
| No Shanks to You | Zepplyn Berry | Dreyfoos School of the Arts | 12 | Kristina Leljedal |
| Not Enough Time | Luc Borzillieri | The Benjamin School | 12 | Jason Peck |
| The Bench of Hope | Valentina Calero | Atlantic Christian Academy | 9 | Courtney Anello |
| Do No Harm | Isabella Contacessa | The Benjamin School | 12 | Jason Peck |
| #FINE | Emma Hibbs | G-Star School of the Arts | 11 | Gretchen Porro |
| The Cutting Board | Merritt Kanzer | Saint Andrew's School | 10 | Mandy Albert |
| Airplane Mode | Nia Lambrou | American Heritage School | 10 | Liz Mignacca |
| Royal Roots United | Dasmille Monuma | Santaluces High School | 10 | Angelica Capote |
| Just Another Day | Atlas Saavedra | Dreyfoos School of the Arts | 12 | Kristina Leljedal |
| Confessions from a Booth | Isis Secor | Seminole Ridge High School | 12 | Ryan Lee |
Runners Up |
||||
| The Cruelest Winter Days | Dalya Christensen | Dreyfoos School of the Arts | 9 | Kristina Leljedal |
| The Counselor | Blake Roberts | Saint Andrew's School | 10 | Mandy Albert |