Judging has been completed in the 2023 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest for high school students in the Western United States, and two Pacific Island jurisdictions. In all, the circuit received 966 essays and 86 videos this year. The District of Nevada entered 134 essays and 20 videos!
The theme of the contest — “The 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution: What Should Our Next Amendment Be?”— asked students to focus on three questions: 1) What amendment would you propose for our Constitution? (2) Why? and (3) How would you get your amendment ratified?
The contest was open to students in grades 9-12 in public, private, parochial, and charter schools and home-schooled students of equivalent grade status in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and the U.S. Territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
The finalists selected for the local contest sponsored by the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada are:
Essay category – 1st place, Weston Raydon of Reno High School; 2nd place, Kalista Kingsbury of Southwest Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas; and 3rd place, Samantha Phelan of Southwest and Technical Academy in Las Vegas.
Video category – 1st place, Charity Caday, Annie Lin and Samantha Manuel of Southwest Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas; 2nd place , Breanna Anton and Kaitlyn Landry of Southwest Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas; and 3rd place, Grace Li of West Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas.
District-level prizes consist of $1,500, $850, and $500 for the top three essays and videos.
Out of the 966 total entries received, 45 essays and 30 videos were advanced to the preliminary round at the circuit level for consideration by judges, court staff and members of the bar. The Ninth Circuit Public Information and Community Outreach (PICO) Committee determined the final winners at the circuit level, which were announced on June 7, 2023. PICO is responsible for organizing and sponsoring the contest together with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the 15 federal judicial district that comprise the circuit. At the circuit level, prizes of $3,000, $1,700 and $1,000 were awarded to the first, second and third place winners in both the essay and video competition.
Essay Category
1st Place – Weston Raydon of Reno High School [Link to Essay]
2nd Place – Kalista Kingsbury of Southwest Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas [Link to Essay]
3rd Place – Samantha Phelan of Southwest Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas [Link to Essay]
Video Category
1st Place – Charity Caday, Annie Lin, and Samantha Manuel of Southwest Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas [Link to Video]
2nd Place – Breanna Anton and Kaitlyn Landry of Southwest Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas
3rd Place – Grace Li of West Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas [Link to Video]