01/06/2026
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ข๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ง๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐
Contact: Katherine Rodriguez - [email protected]
SAN FRANCISCO โ Arizona, Hawaii, Northern Mariana Islands and Washington state high school students are top winners of the 2026 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest, which challenged students to express their thoughts in an essay and/or video addressing the theme, โLife, Liberty and the Pursuit of HappinessโYour Voice. Your Story. Your America.โ The theme celebrates the upcoming 250-year anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Six students will share a total of $11,400, and the first-place winners, along with a parent or guardian, will be invited to attend part of the 2026 Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference.
Winners of the essay competition who will receive cash prizes are:
๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒโPrisha Yelamanchili ($3,000), BASIS Chandler, Chandler, Arizona.
๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒโStanley Huang ($1,700), Newport High School, Bellevue, Washington.
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒโReggie Castro ($1,000), Marianas High School, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands.
Winners of the video competition who will receive cash prizes are:
๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒโLale Kutlu ($3,000), Lincoln High School, Seattle, Washington.
๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒโAidan Cheng ($1,700), โIolani High School, Honolulu, Hawaii.
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒโXavier Gatlin ($1,000), Lakeside School, Seattle, Washington.
โCongratulations to this yearโs winners! And thank you to all the students who participated in the 2026 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest. Everyone submitted such thoughtful and inspiring responses to this yearโs prompt: โLife, Liberty and the Pursuit of HappinessโYour Voice. Your Story. Your America.โ I am deeply encouraged by all the students who contributed to this yearโs competition and who took the time to reflect on the 250-year anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and how the enduring and unalienable rights proclaimed in the document are of vital importance to our Democracy. I am also grateful to the family members and teachers who supported the contestants,โ said Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Mary H. Murguia.
The Ninth Circuit received a total of 1,043 essays and 185 videos from students who competed at the local contests held by 15 judicial districts throughout the Ninth Circuit. Of all entries received, 45 essays and 44 videos advanced to the Ninth Circuit for preliminary consideration, and 12 essays and 12 videos were selected for final consideration.
The Ninth Circuitโs Public Information and Community Outreach (PICO) Committee members participated in the final phase of judging these entries. The contest is sponsored by the PICO Committee, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the federal courts that comprise the Ninth Circuit.
Essay finalists who made it to the top 12 for final consideration in addition to the circuit winners are: Aashka Bhuptani, Redondo Union High School, and Suah Jin, Sunny Hills High School, Central District of California; Jasmin Ye, The Quarry Lane School, Northern District of California; Natalie Amir-Lobel, La Jolla Country Day School, Southern District of California; Melissa Sobenn, Lincoln High School, and Chloe Zhang, Sherwood High School, District of Oregon; Ravi Ke, Mead High School, Eastern District of Washington; and Vanessa Brooke, Anacortes High School, Western District of Washington.
Video finalists who made it to the top 12 for final consideration in addition to the circuit winners are: the team of Elijah Aguero, Osvaldo Gomez & Karl Grosskreutz, Gila Ridge High School, District of Arizona; Katelyn Cheng, Trinity Pacific Christian School, Central District of California; the team of Alexia Ortega, Dafne Sevillano & Samira Suzuki, Chula Vista Learning Community Charter School High School, Southern District of California; AveMaria Bigler, Notre Dame High School, and the team of Ryan Kong & Reine Sangcap, John F. Kennedy High School, District of Guam; Chase Yamash*ta, โIolani High School, District of Hawaii; the team of Michael Guintu, Alleena Villaluz & James Xiong, Saipan International School, District of the Northern Mariana Islands; the team of Emma Lee, Derica Theobald & Miranda Yesser, Lincoln High School, District of Oregon; and the team of Sophie Bartscher & Paige Weiskopf, Seattle Academy, Western District of Washington.
Winning essays and videos are posted on the civics contest website https://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/civicscontest.
The contest was open to high school-age students who reside within the geographic area of the circuit. Prizes and contest-related expenditures are funded through attorney admission fees collected by the federal courts in the Ninth Circuit to fund educational programs for the bar and community.
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