2008-2009 Winners - Mid-Atlantic Region
The winners of the Being an American Essay Contest have been announced! The top three winners in each region were announced at the Awards Gala on March 31, 2009.
Mid-Atlantic Region
 | First Place - Katelyn Stauffer Ephrata Senior High School “As Americans, the most essential value we have is that of accountability. It is this value that has allowed the nation to grow and transform over the past few centuries.” |
 | Second Place - Connor Weis Fox Chapel Area High School, Grade 12 “The title ‘American’ is not simply a meaningless, inherited label. To be an American means to be accepting of all other fellow citizens. If one is American, then one must recognize that every other American has the same equal rights.” |
 | Third Place - Cassandra Hartt Burnt Hills Ballston Lake High School “Citizens of the United States of America are endowed with values that the people of many other countries do not hold. As Americans, it is our duty to preserve the values that were meaningful at the time of our country’s birth.” |
Honorable Mention - Christopher Bergman West Windsor Plainsboro High School North "In the true spirit of the Declaration of Independence, the most important civic value that an American can hold is the understanding that all people, American or not, are equal under the law. There can be no inferior or superior class of human being in the eyes of the law." |
Honorable Mention - Hannah Sisk Academy of Notre Dame “One of the most startling differences between the United States and England are the methods of governing and the participation of the public in that governing. In contrast to the monarchial rule in England, the United States has always functioned democratically – a government for the people, by the people. This magnificent reality of self-determination is what has allowed the United States to develop into the inimitable country it is today. As Americans, we have the right and the responsibility to rule ourselves, acknowledging our duty to guard the Constitution and treat all equally and justly.” |
Honorable Mention - Leah Gerlach Burnt Hills Ballston Lake High School “The values that we base our daily lives on as Americans were fought for by our forefathers. Some of these values such as equality, we are still struggling to achieve. Our society must achieve equality if we are going to reach our full potential as a world leader.” |
Honorable Mention - Taylor Wolfson Massapequa High School “Liberty is a privilege that we as Americans are fortunate to have - a symbol of our basic rights - and yet we often take advantage of it everyday by forgetting how rare it truly is in today's world. Beginning with the writing of the Bill of Rights in 1789, Americans for the last two centuries have fought to preserve and proclaim their liberties as equal citizens of a democratic society. Epitomized by the work of Abraham Lincoln and Susan B. Anthony, we as Americans today still have the capability everyday to carry out our own forms of liberty.” |
Honorable Mention - Alexandra Gutowski Mt. St. Dominic High School “Our American story embodies the civic value of tolerance, from George Washington's letter on religious tolerance, to Lucy Stone, a woman who worked for freedom for women and slaves, and into the lessons I will learn as a college freshman. America guarantees equal rights for all her people, not simply by laws but by our citizens' personal commitments to tolerance.” |
Honorable Mention - Meagen Monahan Cranford Senior High School “The duty to demand change and defend one's rights ordained by natural law is the most essential American value. With these sentiments, our Founding Fathers created what would become the most prestigious country with an equally renowned and revolutionary government.” |
Honorable Mention - Aman Malik Edison High School “This civic value of acceptance is the reason for the strides that America has made over the past years, and will make in years to come, thus making such a value essential for all Americans to have.” |
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