More than 150 students at Media Academy have asked California leaders to save them a spot in college.

And they’re also hoping to win a scholarship to pay for that college spot.

The school decided to require all students to submit an entry – a poster, written word or television ad – to the "Save Me a Spot in College" contest. The contest is open to all California students in grades 6 to 12.

Most students at Media Academy finished the assignment and turned their entries in before the March 15 deadline. A few students even made the contest's earlybird deadline of Feb. 1, qualifying them for entry into a special competition for $500 scholarships.

The contest, which is in its third year, gives away $125,000 in scholarship money, ranging from $500 to $2,500. Last year, the contest drew 12,000 entries from all over California.

"We are trying to build the college-going culture at our school," said Lisa Shafer, who is on the Media Academy advisory committee and helped organize the school-wide project. "Students need to understand that money is available to them and that they don’t have to be 4.0 students or world-class athletes to get that money."

About 40 students in Shafer’s Media Studies classes submitted essays in the written word category.

One of her students, D'Amontae Warfield, wrote this in his essay: "If I knew I had a spot waiting for me in college, and it was my only 'Golden Ticket' that would get me a better place in my life, then I would have to take that ticket and ride to my dream."

Almost 100 percent of the freshmen in Howard Ruffner’s Journalism classes entered either the written word or the poster category.

"I absolutely think that the 'Save Me a Spot Contest' was worthwhile because it had students think about college," said Ruffner. "Even if you win or not, it made a kid think about being saved a spot in college."

Ruffner said it also gave freshmen knowledge that college scholarships are not just available to seniors.

Ironically, juniors and seniors were the most resistent to doing the project even though they will need college money sooner.

In Michael Jackson's Advanced Drama class, all the students did Public Service Announcement television ads, but Jackson said he didn't think students felt it was a worthwhile project. Some students agreed they just rushed through it.

Richard Yacco, who teaches broadcast journalism and Web design classes, had only six students submit entries.

"Many of my students don't complete assignments regardless of the consequences," said Yacco.

However, Yacco is working with his students on another scholarship contest called the "Doodle for Google."

Still, Principal Benjamin Schmookler saw a few of the Save Me a Spot entries and was impressed.

"For a project for the whole school, it went well," he said.

The school will hold a contest and award prizes for best poster, essay, poem and television advertisement.

Except for seniors, students who did not enter or who didn't take it seriously still have a chance next year – the contest allows you to enter every year. To learn more about the contest, go to www.collegecampaign.org/contest.