This year’s theme was The Promise of Democracy.
2025 Essay Contest Winners
Ruth Udekwu, Grade 5, Lena Whitmore Elementary
Women’s Voting Rights
Women fought for rights to vote for a long time, but it would take them more than a century until the 19th amendment was finally made. When the Constitution was finished, later amended by the Bill of Rights, rights to vote were only made reality for white men who owned land. Slowly, during the early 1800s women’s groups started to join abolitionists, people who wanted to end slavery. Together they fought for equal rights. In 1870 the 15th amendment gave men of all races the right to vote. However, women still could not vote. Women’s groups worked hard for rights to vote by protesting and teaming up with others. (Ruth goes on to describe some of the ways women protested including defying voting laws and voting and ended up being fined or jailed.)
The Promise of Democracy was supposed to let each gender, race, and identity have a voice in the government, but that promise wasn’t made a reality until a century later of hard work. Women and abolitionists worked to make that a reality. By staying strong and speaking up for themselves, women’s groups were able to throw rocks at segregation if not boulders. Their determination proved their incredibly overlooked values. To sum it all up, women’s groups played an important role in making the Promise of Democracy real by protesting and working together with other strong forces.
Lucas Hughes – grade 5, Lena Whitmore Elementary
The Fight for Fair Child Labor
Wanted 120 girls and boys owing to the inability of the mills to supply the government with tent cloth. How would you feel if you saw that poster today? Kids belong in school not in a very highly unhealthy environment such as a factory. The reason these industries used children was because they could handle simple tasks and were usually obedient, which caused them to be in high demand. But some people knew this was wrong, so Lewis Hine and other activists fought for fair child labor by showing how bad it is to the public and organizations standing up for child labor also helped.
Lewis Hine sneaked into factories and photographed children working there to spread the word about the harsh working conditions in child labor. Lewis Hine showed the world this injustice by putting pictures and words about how bad child labor is in newspapers and other places that are widely available to the public. Organizations such as the national child labor committee launched public campaigns against child labor. The organizations joined together to fight for fair and equal child labor in the Child Labor and Reform movement. All of this for the true promise of democracy a fair and equal rights for all.
Prompt Grades 6-8: What did Dr. Martin Luther King think would help make real the promise of democracy in 1963? What do you think would help overcome challenges to democracy today?
Max Flanders, Seventh Grade. St Mary’s Catholic School
Even after the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1st, 1863, blacks in America were not treated equally to white people. African Americans still could not vote, hold the same job positions, or even go to the same schools as white people. In my eyes, Doctor King had three main ideas to change what America had been calling democracy.
Firstly, he wanted everyone to respect everyone else for religion, race, job, etcetera… Secondly, he wanted everyone to be free; free from injustice, free from discrimination, truly free. This one is probably the most important type of freedom. America was created to be able to have freedom of religion. 100 years later, the American people were still not entirely free from discrimination.
“I came here to cash a check,” Dr King said. What he meant by “check” was when America was founded and the founding fathers promised, freedom and equality for all. He felt that check had bounced so to speak and when he marched on the Capitol in 1963, he intended to cash that check.
(Max goes on to say things are better now for democracy but there are still some problems.) He closes by saying: “There are still problems with the country because it will never be perfect. Nothing is ever perfect.”
Prompt High School: What were some barriers to the promise of democracy in Dr. Martin Luther King’s time? What are some threats to democracy today? How can these obstacles best be dealt with?
Stormy Bymers. Grade 12 Paradise Creek Regional High School
In King’s fight for civil rights, education was a central issue. He understood that an informed citizenry was essential to the functioning of a healthy democracy. Without access to quality education, African Americans and other oppressed groups would struggle to make meaningful contributions to society and to challenge systemic injustice. Therefore, advancing education was an integral part of his vision for a more just and equal nation. The civil rights movement, including King’s leadership, led to landmark educational reforms such as the desegregation of public schools and the eventual passage of the civil rights acts of 1964, which sought to ensure equal education opportunities for all.
(Stormy goes on to discuss some threats to education today.) And then he says, ‘To counter these threats, modern solutions must focus on promoting inclusive, comprehensive, and critical education. This includes ensuring that students are taught to think critically, to engage with diverse perspectives, and to understand the importance of social justice in a democracy. Public education should be safeguarded from political manipulation. … Only through a robust, inclusive education system can we protect and strengthen democracy.
2025 Art Contest Winners
Lower Elementary Prompt: Grade 1-3 – Draw a picture of a time when you spoke up to
change a rule to make it better.
AURORA GREENFIELD, Grade 2 – STANDING UP FOR A LITTLE GIRL
St. Mary’s Catholic School
Upper Elementary Prompt: Grades 4-5 – Develop a list of key words related to the practice of
democracy. Choose one and create an artwork to illustrate it.
LILIANNA FERGUSON, Grade 5 – EVERYONE HAS THE RIGHT TO VOTE
Moscow Charter School
Middle School Prompt, Grades 6-8 – Create an artwork illustrating something that you consider important or valuable about living in a democracy.
NOLA JOHNSON, Grade 6 – BUILDING A SENSE OF COMMUNITY
Donating to the community helps those in need, and
shapes your community, like showing whether community
“sees” those who need help.
St. Mary’s Catholic School
High School Prompt, Grades 9-12 – Create an artwork that illustrates people overcoming
a threat to making real the promise of democracy today
LEX STEWART, Grade 11 – THE CONVERSATION
This piece represents the role of a trans person in a public conversation,
how we often feel silenced. dismissed or cast aside. When our voices
aren’t being heard we will often overcome this through art in order to
catch people’s attention and to make them listen… I have faith that our voices
will be heard, whether we speak verbally or not.
Paradise Creek Regional High School
