A student at Vernon Hills High School in Chicago’s northern suburbs, won second place in the Art category for the 2015 “Our First Amendment Freedoms” contest.
By Iuliia Boyarskiy
Chicago-area students could enter their writing and artwork during the spring and fall semesters of 2015. Students had to submit an essay or work of art that addresses how one or more of the five freedoms in the First Amendment personally affects their daily life.
Iuliia Boyarskiy, who’s now a senior, along with her art teacher, Allison Molloy, will be recognized at a reception at the Hilton Chicago on November 18. Iuliia will receive a cash prize of $1,000 for her contribution.
The Anti-Defamation League and Greenberg Traurig, LLP, in partnership with Newspapers In Education Chicago Tribune and The Mash, announced the 2015 student essay and art contest in June, but since the contest occurs annually, some students submitted work prior to that date.
The submission deadline was October 1, and students in grades 7 through 11 at the date of submitting their work were considered.
Students in the Chicagoland area are asked to submit an essay or create a work of art that best addresses the following assignment: Describe or portray how one or more of the five freedoms in the First Amendment personally affects your daily life.
- First Place winners in each grade category (7–8 and 9–11) for the art contest and the essay contest receive $5,000. Second place winners receive $1,000.
By Kevin McDonald
Kevin McDonald, a student at Reavis High School in Burbank in the south suburbs, is the first-place winner. His artwork was the top entry, and he’ll receive a $5,000 scholarship, the school announced last week.
The contest is intended to highlight the importance of the five First-Amendment freedoms in our everyday lives. Those freedoms are religion, speech, press, petition, and assembly. It isn’t surprising that both winners chose free speech as the First-Amendment freedom that affects their daily lives.
