Sponsor A Winner

Item Description

Our "We The Future" Contest Winners are an outstanding group of young people who will soon be embarking on an all expense paid trip to Washington, DC! On this trip, they will have the unique opportunity to see the U.S. Constitution come to life through VIP tours of the U.S. Capitol, National Archives, participating in Constitution Day activities, and much more! 

As Best Middle School Essay Winner, in addition to the mentor trip, Leo wins a $200 gift card! He will be writing his trip sponsors to let them know what he is learning throughout the trip - reporting to you in real time!

Here's a note from our Winner-   

My name is Leo Marcinak. I am a ninth grader at the Heights School in Potomac, Maryland. I live in Herndon, Virginia, just under thirty miles from Washington, D.C. While I was born in Arlington, Virginia, my family moved to Illinois when I was still very young, and in 2021 we moved back to Virginia. I hope to attend Hillsdale College after I graduate.

I consider myself to be a man who knows a little about everything, but not a lot about most things (although I can talk somebody’s ear off about the Constitution). In my free time I like to read, write, make music, debate, and go on fifty-mile bike rides that take me along the Potomac River with an amazing view of D.C. I am a member of Young America’s Foundation and the National Rifle Association. Many of my classmates consider me to be the most politically-minded person in the class, and I cannot really deny that.

I believe that the United States Constitution is the greatest political document ever conceived in the history of mankind, and the fact that it has survived almost two-hundred and fifty years without failing is a testament to the greatness of a Republic such as this. Americans have an obligation to defend the Constitution at all costs, and I will stand by it no matter what anybody throws at it.

Constituting America has allowed me to put my beliefs and writings to good use, so that I may contribute to other Americans and help teach the basic facts they need to know to understand the heritage of the United States.

Thomas Jefferson once said, “I prefer a dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.” I think all Americans should have a deep understanding of what this means: a free nation will always have dangers as a result of the liberty bestowed by God, but without these liberties, a nation is nothing more than one with its rights guaranteed by a sheet of paper, and those same rights are at risk of being taken away at the whim of a government official. If we can remember this, I think we will find it very easy to uphold this nation to the end of time.

Click Here to read Leo’s Winning Essay