At 14 Kurtzman won a cartooning contest for which he received a dollar and had his cartoon published in "Tip Top Comics" 36 (April 1939). Future collaborator Jack Davis had won the same contest a few issues earlier. After winning the annual John Wanamaker Art Contest, Kurtzman received a scholarship to attend high school at The High School of Music & Art. Future colleagues Will Elder, Al Feldstein, Al Jaffee, John Severin, and Charles Stern also attended the school. Kurtzman graduated at 16 in 1941 and went on to Cooper Union on a scholarship. Kurtzman left after a year to focus on making comic books.