You did the thing.
Real things have started this way. A kid noticed something. A kid said something. A kid did something. Click through. See if one of these sounds like yours.
…turned a vacant lot into a garden?
You saw the corner turn into a dumping ground. You convinced two neighbors. Now there's tomatoes.
You don’t need a club. You don’t need a class. About 45 minutes and a phone or laptop.
$1,000 to start. Up to $10,000 more when you do the things.
No essay contest. No 47-page application. Submit, hear back in 3 business days, and a yes is real money on day one. Then you tell us what you’d do with more.
When your idea clears the bar, you get $1,000 paid right away. To bring it to life. We don't tell you how to spend it.
Your acceptance letter lays out specific objectives + asks you what you'd do with more funding. Hit your objectives — proof you ran the idea — and unlock up to $10K more.
Real humans. 15 minutes. Free.
Not everyone has an adult to brainstorm with. So we’re lining up a small pool of helpers — grown-ups who’ll spend 15 minutes with you by Zoom, email, or phone. They’ll ask questions, give honest notes, and (if it helps) show you how to use AI tools you might already have access to. They won’t write your idea. That’s yours.
Email us with your idea and one thing you're stuck on. A helper will reply within 2 business days.
15 minutes on Zoom or phone. A helper hears your idea, asks questions, sends you back to think.
Helpers can walk you through using AI tools (like ChatGPT or Claude) to brainstorm — if you don't already have someone to show you how.
Helpers are volunteers — adults who want to be useful. (Want to be one? Email hello@exponentialscholars.org.)
Get a helper →We score the thinking, not just the polish.
The rubric is built so a parent’s editing skill can’t win the prize. Your own thinking can. Four things matter:
Is this a problem you know firsthand? A specific person, a specific block, a specific town beats a generic pitch about world hunger.
Does your idea show a way of seeing that's your own? Not whether it sounds polished — whether the angle could only have come from you.
Have you already tried something? Asked someone? Looked something up? Anything counts. Tiny steps count.
Why does this matter to you? Naming exactly whose life changes beats using big words to say nothing.
Yes. You. Can do this.
You don’t need an essay. You don’t need a presentation deck. You don’t need a parent to help you write it. You need a phone or laptop, about 45 minutes, and the thing you keep thinking about. That’s the entry.
Know a kid who should do this?
Counselors, librarians, club leaders, parents, friends — the kids most likely to enter are the ones a trusted adult forwarded the link to. Be that adult.