Stanton College Preparatory School senior Avi Patel won first place in the 2021 High School Essay Contest commemorating the 230th anniversary of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights.
Lawyers and judges of the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, Jacksonville Division and the Jacksonville Chapter of the Federal Bar Association sponsor the competition and choose the winners.
Patel received a $2,000 prize underwritten by the Bench Bar Fund at a Nov. 19 ceremony at the Bryan Simpson U.S. Courthouse in Jacksonville.
Elizabeth DeVooght, also a Stanton senior, received the $1,000 second-prize award.
Nissa Philip, a junior at Paxon School for Advanced Studies, received $500 as the third-place winner.
The fourth- through 10th-place winners each received $50.
In addition, $500 classroom grants were presented to the teachers of the top three winners. Paxon received a $1,000 grant for having the most qualifying submissions with 33 students entering the contest this year.
The essay prompt asked the essay writers to choose the Bill of Rights amendment most important to students attending public schools and explain how the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court have shaped that amendment’s meaning.
This year, students enrolled in 21 high schools in the 12 counties in the Jacksonville Division submitted 77 essays.
The annual contest is open to students in the 10th through 12 grade in Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Duval, Flagler, Hamilton, Nassau, Putnam, St. Johns, Suwannee and Union counties.