Meet the winners of Americans United’s 2024 Student Contest!

I am so excited to announce the winners of AU’s 2024 Student Contest!

We invited high school and college students to submit an essay or video responding to this three-part prompt: How are religious extremists and their lawmaker allies attempting to erode church-state separation in public schools? How have communities and advocates addressed this in the past? Moving forward, what could be done to educate others about these threats and mobilize communities to protect church-state separation in public schools?

Congratulations to our winners – click here to see what they had to say! 

High School Essay Contest Winners:

• Dhruti Pathak, TX, First Place
• Ayla Zook, VA, Second Place
• Johanna Marx, CA, Third Place  

College Essay Contest Winners:

• Krrisha Patel, NJ, First Place
• Allison Schneider, NY, Second Place
• Carissa Coane, CA, Third Place

High School Video Contest Winners:

• Elijah Norris, GA, First Place
• Dhanista Annem, TX, Second Place
• Casady (Sadie) Schwartz, UT, Third Place

College Video Contest Winners:

• Aahan Bajpai, IN, First Place
• Sabrina Harrison, TX, Second Place
• Imani Laird, MA, Third Place

Americans United received over 500 submissions, and these 12 students’ thoughtful ideas, compelling stories, and creative writing and video-making rose above the rest. Thanks to your support, each of our winners received a cash prize of $500-1,500, and the first-place essays will be published in AU’s Church & State magazine alongside interviews with the authors in April!

We want to give a huge thanks to all of the students who participated – and to our members, who make this contest possible every year. Engaging young people in our work is crucial to the future of Americans United, church-state separation and our democracy. Together, we’re building a movement to protect religious freedom for all for generations to come.