The Presidential 1776 Award competition was made available to United States students in connection with America's 250th Birthday celebration. West Liberty High School had two students, Georgia Clark and Ryan Laughlin, willing to participate in the first leg of the competition - The Impossible Civics Test. To prepare for the 90-minute Impossible Civics Test, students were provided with access to a study library filled with documents to review. When we asked Georgia about the Impossible Civics Test, she said, "I spent an hour and a half going through questions that probably were on the level of some college classes, many required some deep thought and intimate knowledge of events and battles. Let me tell you, it was ROUGH." Despite how daunting this test was, Georgia earned one of the top scores in Iowa to qualify for the regional semifinals in Michigan!
Georgia will be competing against high school students from 10 states at the Midwest Regional Semifinal in the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The semifinal consists of two rounds. In round one, each contestant will be asked 8-10 oral questions, one by one, and will have 30 seconds to answer each question. A judge will determine if the answer is correct and award points. The top 16 contestants from the first round will advance to the second round, where they will participate in another round of oral questions with contestants they have not competed against. Georgia is already preparing for the semifinals, "I'm going to read through every single primary source that was suggested. I'm going over everything with a fine-tooth comb, no stone left unturned, no document unread." The top 4 students from round two will advance to the National Tournament in Washington, D.C. to compete against high school students from across the nation for a $150,000 scholarship!
Georgia enjoys the learning aspect of all of the competitions she's participated in, including the George S. and Stella M. Knight Essay Contest, Iowa State Bar Association's "Know Your Constitution" Project, National Civics Bee, and the Congressional Writing Contest, in addition to the Presidential 1776 Award competition. Georgia confessed, "Even though History has never really been my favorite subject, I've developed a lot of appreciation for it, and it's really helped me understand the inner workings of our country's government, laws, and politics. It's kind of like how learning about different languages helps you understand how they're all connected. Every rule and law put in place has a purpose; every little check that has restricted the government's power is put in place to ensure our safety, and all of these inner workings can be explained by our history." Georgia says that her favorite thing about participating in these competitions is getting to meet people, "With every competition, I've gotten to compete against other kids from all across the state and the country, and I've been able to find so many people that I can connect and agree with, and so many people who have challenged my views on the world, and showed me new opinions and ways of thinking. Through these competitions, I've been able to see more of America's future, and everyone in WL High and in these competitions has shown me that the future is looking bright."
We are so excited to see Georgia compete in The Presidential 1776 Award Midwest Regional Semifinals, and we wish her the very best! Georgia's mother, Melanie Clark, said, "I am very proud of Georgia. She really is blessed with an exceptional ability to read college-level texts." Melanie believes that it's this ability that has led Georgia to success in this competition, because the primary documents looked so daunting that other students who were encouraged to participate in the contest did not want to. Georgia was motivated to participate in this competition because "it seemed extremely similar to the Civics Bee, so I can build off of the knowledge that I already have for this competition. Also, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, since this competition is being held specifically to celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States, and if I do well, I have the opportunity to earn a lot of scholarship money, and maybe another trip out to D.C. (this time without a government shutdown)." If you see Georgia out and about, please be sure to congratulate her on this tremendous accomplishment. In closing, Georgia says, "I'm just really grateful for all the love and support our community and our school has given me these past few months. I'm excited for what the future will bring, and I hope to make you all proud in Round 2, Go Comets!" We say Go Georgia, we will all be cheering you on!