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2025-26 Student Contests
Congratulations to all of our award winners!
The winners of our Video Contest and Essay Contest (as well as the winners from our AI Challenge, announced earlier this year) can be found below.
If your name’s on one of these lists, then you (or your teacher, if your teacher submitted for you) should have received an email from us with further information. If you did not receive our email in your inbox, please check your spam folder. If it’s not there, please contact us.
Congratulations to all of our award winners!
The winners of our Video Contest and Essay Contest can be found below. If your name’s on one of these lists, then you (or your teacher, if your teacher submitted for you) should have received an email from us with further information. If you did not receive our email in your inbox, please check your spam folder. If it’s not there, please contact us.
Joshua Paul
First Place – College Division
Joshua Calhoun
Second Place – College Division
Jonathan Nguyen
First Place – High School Division
Justin Ricketts
Second Place – High School Division
Kayla Yoon
First Place – Middle School Division
Vivienne Solanki
Second Place – Middle School Division
Finalists
College Division
Maria Achenbach
Katherine Ballard
Maze Gusa
Russell Kandibur
David Selva
High School Division
Daevion Gray
Alice Khazanovsky
Gianna King
Jonathan Paul
Thakur Singh
Middle School Division
Blake Aladin
Nivriti Kadari
Marylynne Lay
Emma Osmanaj
Brynner Ramirez
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Caleb Zylstra
Second Place
High School Division
“So, my great-great-grandparents, along with many like them, burst their chains not through revolution but immigration. If freedom from a brutally authoritarian government could not be achieved in their own nation, they would make a different nation their own.”
Ethan Na
First Place
High School Division
“The core of the American experiment is the shift from ‘may I?’ to ‘I will.’ For most of human history, the path of an individual was dictated by the person sitting on a throne or a central committee. The American Revolution flipped that script.”
Akshath Yadawad
Third Place
High School Division
“The question of whether Congress should have term limits is ultimately a question about who the government belongs to. As a young American who will grow up to live in this political system, the answer is clear to me.”
Rohan Sathish Babu
Second Place
Middle School Division
“If we finally clear the starting block and let the competition happen, we don’t lose anything. Instead, we gain the energy and the fresh perspectives of a democracy that’s been holding its breath for way too long.”
Amira Navaneethan
First Place
Middle School Division
“As I look toward my future, these ‘hidden’ costs feel very personal. In a few years, I, too, will be in the workforce, directly affected by tariffs, and every dollar siphoned away by trade barriers is a dollar I cannot use to build my own life.”
Aisling Kung
Third Place
Middle School Division
“My family is not alone in feeling the weight of heightened tariffs; millions of working-class families struggle with budgeting and keeping enough food on the table for their children. True national security shouldn’t come at the expense of the average shopper.”
Finalists
High School Division
Alonso Diaz
Aarav Kalra
Ulyana Kubini
Ethan Tso
Joshua Weber
Middle School Division
Ryan Bakhru
Bharadwaja Bhavanibhatla
Aria Gelber
Martin Sanchez Moreno
Tapan Singareddy
Semi-Finalists
High School Division
Eden Bentley
Reed Cooksey
Yanhao Piao
Rylie Sholomith
Rongxuan Zhang
Middle School Division
Catherine Chun
Charles Liu
Khanh Pham
Eleanor Spotts
Andrew Zhu
Honorable Mentions
High School Division
William Agner
Anvi Bastati
George Chesterton
Emily Ganguly
AIden Lara
Vivian Li
August McNichol
Rosario Miranda
Hadas Naveh
Meadow Ramirez
Yamil Rodriguez
Sophia Saud
Sophia Scharf
Brady Semones
Grace Will
Middle School Division
Nupur Awati
Garrett Byington
Seth Carr
Karis Cho
Jeidy Disla
Enelynn Ferrer
Ezra Jun
Malika Khamis
Harlow Merrell
Gabrielle Node-Langlois
Annika Pinol Manchon
Caroline Reed
Martin Sanchez Moreno
Elliot Son
Sofia Yengst
Ethan Na
First Place
High School Division
“The core of the American experiment is the shift from ‘may I?’ to ‘I will.’ For most of human history, the path of an individual was dictated by the person sitting on a throne or a central committee. The American Revolution flipped that script.”
Caleb Zylstra
Second Place
High School Division
“So, my great-great-grandparents, along with many like them, burst their chains not through revolution but immigration. If freedom from a brutally authoritarian government could not be achieved in their own nation, they would make a different nation their own.”
Akshath Yadawad
Third Place
High School Division
“The question of whether Congress should have term limits is ultimately a question about who the government belongs to. As a young American who will grow up to live in this political system, the answer is clear to me.”
Amira Navaneethan
First Place
Middle School Division
“As I look toward my future, these ‘hidden’ costs feel very personal. In a few years, I, too, will be in the workforce, directly affected by tariffs, and every dollar siphoned away by trade barriers is a dollar I cannot use to build my own life.”
Rohan Sathish Babu
Second Place
Middle School Division
“If we finally clear the starting block and let the competition happen, we don’t lose anything. Instead, we gain the energy and the fresh perspectives of a democracy that’s been holding its breath for way too long.”
Aisling Kung
Third Place
Middle School Division
“My family is not alone in feeling the weight of heightened tariffs; millions of working-class families struggle with budgeting and keeping enough food on the table for their children. True national security shouldn’t come at the expense of the average shopper.”
Finalists
High School Division
Alonso Diaz
Aarav Kalra
Ulyana Kubini
Ethan Tso
Joshua Weber
Middle School Division
Ryan Bakhru
Bharadwaja Bhavanibhatla
Aria Gelber
Martin Sanchez Moreno
Tapan Singareddy
Semi-Finalists
High School Division
Eden Bentley
Reed Cooksey
Yanhao Piao
Rylie Sholomith
Rongxuan Zhang
Middle School Division
Catherine Chun
Charles Liu
Khanh Pham
Eleanor Spotts
Andrew Zhu
Honorable Mentions
High School Division
William Agner
Anvi Bastati
George Chesterton
Emily Ganguly
AIden Lara
Vivian Li
August McNichol
Rosario Miranda
Hadas Naveh
Meadow Ramirez
Yamil Rodriguez
Sophia Saud
Sophia Scharf
Brady Semones
Grace Will
Middle School Division
Nupur Awati
Garrett Byington
Seth Carr
Karis Cho
Jeidy Disla
Enelynn Ferrer
Ezra Jun
Malika Khamis
Harlow Merrell
Gabrielle Node-Langlois
Annika Pinol Manchon
Caroline Reed
Martin Sanchez Moreno
Elliot Son
Sofia Yengst
Lillian Campbell
Second Place
“This experience has already helped me improve the way I communicate with AI. Learning to write prompts that elicit deeper responses from ChatGPT will aid me in becoming a more thoughtful consumer of information and more willing to challenge what I’m given rather than accept it at face value.”
Carson Chen
First Place
“When asked about the fairness of the system, [Gemini] presented both sides clearly…. Initially, I expected AI to take a side – to argue for fairness or reject it outright. Instead, I learned that AI operates within strict boundaries. It can explain consequences, outline risks, describe pros and cons, but it cannot decide what is right.”
Shreya Sharma
Third Place
“I learned a lot about using AI responsibly. Treating it as a debate partner instead of an answer generator produced the most valuable insight. I learned not to trust its sickly sweet, confident tone, and shifted to asking harder questions and refusing to settle for neat yet shallow conclusions.”
Finalists
Trexlor Boyer
Sandra Castellanos Pena
Jemarcus Dent
Jitendra Kavali
Liam Moreno
Thakur Singh
Jerry Wang
Ian Wang
Ryan Xu
Aliyah Yusuff
Carson Chen
First Place
“When asked about the fairness of the system, [Gemini] presented both sides clearly…. Initially, I expected AI to take a side – to argue for fairness or reject it outright. Instead, I learned that AI operates within strict boundaries. It can explain consequences, outline risks, describe pros and cons, but it cannot decide what is right.”
Lillian Campbell
Second Place
“This experience has already helped me improve the way I communicate with AI. Learning to write prompts that elicit deeper responses from ChatGPT will aid me in becoming a more thoughtful consumer of information and more willing to challenge what I’m given rather than accept it at face value.”
Shreya Sharma
Third Place
“I learned a lot about using AI responsibly. Treating it as a debate partner instead of an answer generator produced the most valuable insight. I learned not to trust its sickly sweet, confident tone, and shifted to asking harder questions and refusing to settle for neat yet shallow conclusions.”
Finalists
Trexlor Boyer
Sandra Castellanos Pena
Jemarcus Dent
Jitendra Kavali
Liam Moreno
Thakur Singh
Jerry Wang
Ian Wang
Ryan Xu
Aliyah Yusuff