Teens Recognized for Winning Essays on President Obama’s Top Priorities

From Blago and pollution to terrorism and the economy, high school students voice their opinions

Philadelphia, PA  –  Now Debate This, America’s only national online educational debate and $250,000 high school scholarship contest, announced five winners of its 2009 Presidential Prep-Time Essay contest, in which high school students across the country answered the question, "Identify the greatest challenge that President Obama faces and describe what his administration should do about it."  Teens joined the Now Debate This community at confab.nowdebatethis.com to blog and upload essays.

The following are the winners of the Now Debate This Presidential Prep-Time Essay contest:  (Click on the links for photos and a complete version of the winning essays.)

1.    Samuel Scott, Richardson, TX (Plano Senior High School junior, 17 years old): “During the 2008 Olympics, China's horrible environmental policies were second only to calls for Tibet's independence. Indeed, much of the world looked at China, and renounced their atrocious record for pollution.  While the United States is no China, nor an India, or another superproducing nation, going green and energy-efficient should be at the top of Obama's political agenda for the first 100 days. Whether you believe in Global Warming or not, there are too many advantages in going energy efficient for Obama to ignore them.”
http://confab.nowdebatethis.com/profiles/blogs/presidential-preptime-obamas

2.    Alexandria Proko, Downingtown, PA (Homeschooled junior, 17 years old): “I believe that the suffering economy will be President- elect Barack Obama’s greatest challenge and should be his top priority as he enters his presidency, much like it was for President Herbert Hoover. I believe that President- elect Obama should use President Hoover’s Presidency as a guideline on what worked and what did not as far as restoring the country. Our nation literally cannot afford to live in this condition much longer and it is up to President- elect Obama to restore our country.”
http://confab.nowdebatethis.com/profiles/blogs/presidential-prep-essay-20

3.    Ali Mavrakis, Plano, TX (Plano West Senior High School junior, 17 years old): “If Blagoyevich goes to jail, 4 out of the past 8 governors of Illinois will have found themselves in jail (50%). As Jon Stewart quips, considering that 48% of all murderers go to jail, you are more likely to go to jail for being the governor of Illinois than for killing someone. Illinois isn't the only place people are being frustrated by government. In fact, it's been taking place all over the U.S. with Bush's approval ratings hovering in the mid 20s. One crucial problem that Obama will face in office will be that of transparency: finding a way to tell the American people what is going on, while still making executive decisions not swayed by the popularity of that action.”
http://confab.nowdebatethis.com/profiles/blogs/presidential-preptime-for

4.    Luckmini Liyanage, Chestnut Hill, MA (Newton South High School junior, 16 years old): “The War on Terror—albeit not the best name—is one of the most important issues that President-Elect Barack Obama will have to face. This is an issue that has been plaguing America since the September 11 attacks, yet it is an issue that currently isn’t as important to the public compared with the economy and health care… Terrorism is, however, an important national security issue that President-Elect Obama will have to deal with while simultaneously fixing the economy.”
http://confab.nowdebatethis.com/profiles/blogs/war-on-terror-presidential

5.    Carrick Porter, Hopewell, NJ (The Hun School of Princeton sophomore, 17 years old): “Since the attacks against the World Trade Centers in 2001, a lot of people have been angered in the name of safety. This includes the world abroad and the world at home. The current administration has taken very drastic steps to ensure the safety of the American people, and in doing so has severely harmed the image of the United States. The biggest challenge President-elect Barack Obama will face is how to repair the American image, because without a good image presented to the world the country will become less secure.”
http://confab.nowdebatethis.com/profiles/blogs/presidential-prep-essay-24

Please visit links for complete essays and photos.

First place winner Samuel Scott, second place winner Alexandra Proko, and third place winner Ali Mavrakis will receive Apple MacBooks for their winning essays.  Fourth place winner Luckmini Liyanage and fifth place winner Carrick Porter will receive $1,000 college scholarships for their essays.

The Presidential Prep-Time Essay Contest is one of three contests Now Debate This is presenting in 2009, its second year of the program.  On January 20, 2009 the Presidential Prep-Time Essay contest expired and high school students commenced participating in “The 100-Day Presidential Challenge.”  This competition is asking all high school students from across America to research their communities’ biggest energy problems, and develop Energy Solution Proposals they can implement at the local, community level.  The winners will earn a $5,000 clean technology prize for their school or organization, and an opportunity to share ideas with President Obama’s energy officials, Congress, and the energy industry.  Entries will be judged on creativity, historical research and analysis, the written proposal and accompanying video, documentation and feasibility.  Judging panels will be convened by Now Debate This, comprised of representatives from education, non-profit, business, industry, technology and/or government sectors. Winners will be announced in May 2009.

Now Debate This, in partnership with the National Forensic League Speech and Debate Honor Society (NFL), presented the Presidential Prep-Time Essay contest, the 100-Day Presidential Challenge, and the Now Debate This Scholarship Program for high school juniors to compete for $250,000 in college scholarship money as part of its 2009 program theme, “How can the U.S. achieve energy independence?”  The scholarship program will issue a call for video entry submissions to be posted to YouTube.com and SchoolTube.com in late February, 2009. The 16 semi-finalists are scheduled to be announced in May, with a summer travel study program beginning in late June, ending with the debate tournament in August.  

Judging for the Presidential Prep-Time Essay Contest was conducted by the following: Anthony Berryhill, PhD candidate in Political Science at Yale University, Grand Strategy Faculty Member at the Yale University Ivy Scholars Program; Bryce Adams, Legislative Assistant at Akin, Gum, Straus, Hauer and Feld (Austin, TX); Sonam Shah, Master of Public Policy candidate at Brown University’s Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions; Natalie Pullen, Masters candidate at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University; Diane Lang, teacher at the Riverside Unified School District (CA); Cindy Pederson, Debate Coach at Karl G. Maeser Preparatory Academy (UT);  Jennifer Blair, retired US Army Captain; Steve Brick, Environment Program manager, The Joyce Foundation; Allison Kerbel, Master of Public Policy candidate at Brown University’s Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions; Eli Zupnick, former Policy Analyst in the Rhode Island Lieutenant Governor’s Office; Molly Flanagan, Environment Program Officer, The Joyce Foundation; Chris Grubb, senior Coordinator, Great Lakes Restoration at National Wildlife Federation; Randi Oleson, Principal, Bridges @ Mitchell Alternative School (Des Moines, IA).

Now Debate This is made possible through the generous support of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Forensic League, National History Day, the National Park Service and institutional and private partners including the United Nations Foundation.