The Legacy Project is an organization devoted to creating bonds between the generations. They have educational hands-on programming for everyone from seven-year-old Mickey to eighty-seven-year-old Max. This year they sponsored a contest called the Listen to a Life Essay Contest, where students ages 8-18 interviewed a grandparent or “grandfriend” 50 years or older about their life experiences and then submitted a 300-word essay.

Eleanor Cawthon, 13, was the national Grand Prize winner, and she got a Lenovo ThinkCentre computer and a $500 Books Are Fun gift certificate. Cawthon is a grade 8 student at Rowland Hall-St. Mark's Middle School in Salt Lake City, Utah. She interviewed Reed Hart, 69, who's part of the Tenth East Senior Center. Hart shared his experiences in the Navy serving in Korea. "When I asked Mr. Hart what he would like to leave the world's young people, he said a recording of the interview. My essay is his wish fulfilled," says Cawthon.

Twenty runners-up also got $200 Books Are Fun gift certificates. You can read all of their essays and see pictures at the winners page of the website. And you can start gearing your kids up for this coming year’s competition, which starts on Grandparents’ Day, September 9th.

Also available on the Legacy website, some amazing gift ideas for graduates.