Dear Mr. President Essay Contest
The Dear Mr. President Essay Contest is now closed.
Thank you to all who entered. Top 10 Finalists are listed below. The remaining semi-finalists will be notified via email on or around January 28, 2013 and will be posted on the site the week of February 8th.
Finalists
| State | Grade | Student | Teacher | School Name | Essay Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas | 8 | Irfan Ansari | Michele Rowley | Robinson Middle School | Arts Education in Public Schools |
| Virginia | 12 | Aleksander DeMott | Andrea Stover | Ocean Lakes High School | Limitations on High-Skilled Immigrants |
| Kansas | 9 | Tucker Gabriel | Barbie Hartwell | Eudora High School | The Farm Bill |
| New York | 8 | Jade Greenfield | Lynn Tiede | Columbia Secondary School | The DREAM ACT: Let Them Thrive |
| Pennsylvania | 11 | Elvin Luna | John Lobron | Central High School | Help Our Dying Planet |
| Arizona | 12 | Noah Porter | Marv Sorenson | Benson High School | A Crumbling Hallway |
| Wisconsin | 12 | Sam Reynolds | Elizabeth Jorgensen | Arrowhead Union High School | Tax Rates Ruin Entrepreneurial Spirit |
| Indiana | 8 | Meghann Roessler | Andrea Neal | St. Richard’s Episcopal School | Funding Diabetes Research Would Change My Life-And Millions More |
| Florida | 10 | Courtney Rozen | Joyce Seigel | Cypress Bay High School | Don’t Forget About Us |
| Pennsylvania | 8 | Zachary Staller | Paula Jones | DHH Lengel Middle School | Simplify Health Care for the Autistic |
Semi-Finalists
| State | Grade | Student | Teacher | School Name | Essay Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 10 | Mirza Ahmed | Aliza Sherman | Townsend Harris High School | Helping the Environment |
| Ohio | 8 | Jacob Anderson | Lindsey Zimmerman | Troy Junior High School | Major Problems in the United States of America |
| Florida | 9 | Chris Anzaldi | Cheryl Burgess | Lighthouse Christian Academy | Solar Energy |
| Florida | 9 | Myranda Barnett | Courtney Lee | Cypress Creek High School | War...Good or Bad? |
| New Jersey | 12 | Jennifer Baum | Beth Wolk | Monroe Township High School | Mr. President Essay |
| Georgia | 8 | Mary Payton Blackmon | Brian Surkan | The Walker School | Stuck in the Past |
| Oklahoma | 8 | Grayson Boker | Jill Willhoite | Oakdale School | Offshore Drilling Moratorium |
| Florida | 8 | Nikki Bouldin | Luke Flynt | Gifford Middle School | Funding of Education |
| Louisiana | 11 | Will Breaux | Sharon Guillory | St. Thomas More High School | All For Offshore Drilling |
| Florida | 10 | Nicole Brummette | Melodee Drake | Seminole High School | Holding Hands with Education, Is Just Spreading Germs |
| New Jersey | 10 | Bryanna Buchanan | Lisa Brown | Rosa Parks High School | Freedom to Love |
| New York | 10 | Emily Burns | Diane Geurin | Guilderland High School | Say No to Hydrofracking |
| New York | 10 | Rebecca Cheng | C. Cone | Smithtown High School West | Foreign Affairs |
| Ohio | 10 | Shane Cloud | Toni Tayler | Aurora High School | Dear Mr. President |
| New Jersey | 11 | Emely Cosme | Gary Klotzkin | Belleville High School | If you knew the truth, would you still eat it? |
| Maryland | 11 | Mathew Crispell | Denise Mandis | Leonardtown High School | It's Coming |
| California | 7 | Ishana Deb | Steve Helmer | Challenger School | Dear Mr. President |
| New York | 12 | Naomi Dilmanian | Elliott Wong | Manhasset High School | The United States and Protectionism |
| North Carolina | 8 | Deja Dobson | Karen Thomason | East Forsyth Middle School | An Immigrant's Perception |
| Michigan | 10 | Bailey Drewyor | Laura Huff | Portage Central High School | Dear Mr. President |
| Colorado | 7 | Anlan Du | Patrica Harder | Morey Middle School | Pesticides: Dangerous and Costly |
| Iowa | 8 | Carlee Feisel | Allison Freitag | North Tama Junior High | America's Educational System |
| Florida | 8 | Edyzbelly Flores | Beth Wood | Dunnellon Middle School | A Dream in Space |
| California | 10 | Christine Fry | Amanda Amaro | Chowchilla Union High School | My Future |
| New Jersey | 10 | Pat Fryer | Kehoe | Shawnee High School | Dear Mr. Presdient |
| Hawaii | 7 | Katherine Gargiulo | Matt Piercy | Hawaii Preparatory Academy | Schools Cutting Art Education from Curriculum |
| New York | 8 | Mottie Geller | Karen Schneider | Hebrew Academy Of Nassau County Middle School | Energy Independence |
| Idaho | 7 | Abigail Gennett | Ann Cunningham | Post Falls Middle School | Green House Gas Emissions |
| Connecticut | 8 | Mathieu Girard | Ann Svogun | Cheshire Academy | Green House Gas Emissions |
| Ohio | 11 | Zach Givens | Mary Zirillo | Beaver Local High School | Education is the Future |
| Florida | 8 | Matthew Glaus | Caroline Pettet Fernandez | Clearwater Fundemental Middle School | Make Love, Not War |
| Kentucky | 8 | Carson Hardee | Eva Aldridge | Scapa | Giving People a Happier, Healthier Future |
| South Carolina | 9 | Mary Baxter Harlow | Tarrah Meyer | Summerville High School | Educators are Not Treated as Professionals |
| Oklahoma | 11 | Marlon Houston | Myra Mccurry | Pawnee High School | We Are Hungry |
| 12 | Jon Hughes | Pam Gove | Our First Freedon | ||
| New York | 8 | Promi Hussain | Melissa Diaz | I.S 204 | Dear Mr. President |
| Missouri | 8 | Will Jefferies | Ann Asher | Ridgewood Middle School | Should Guns Be Illegal? |
| Pennsylvania | 10 | Nicholas Karafilis | Megan Hackworth | South Fayette | The World's Leading Economic Superpower |
| New Jersey | 11 | Mahaksh Kotdawala | Allisyn Manzar | Freehold Township High School | Renewal of The 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban |
| Idaho | 8 | Tanya Landau | Jason Meyers | Lowell Scott Middle School | Vouchers for a more Educated America |
| 8 | Julianna Latini | Catherine Mount | No Child Left Behind | ||
| Pennsylvania | 12 | Emily Lauber | Gretchen Barbor | Indiana Area Senior High School | Federal Marriage Equality |
| North Carolina | 9 | Donathan Layell | Sharon Shepherd | East Wilkes High School | We Need Solar Energy |
| Georgia | 8 | Emma Laytan | Karen Marcellus | Valwood School | Saving Lives |
| Tennessee | 7 | Matthew Lee | Ruby Hubbard | White Stattion Middle School | Focus More on Education |
| Kentucky | 9 | Matt Liston | Michele Metcalfe | Saint Xavier High School | Letter to the president |
| Virginia | 11 | Sinh Ly | Frances Fok | Landstown High School | Revolution on the Work Front: Equal Pay for Equal Work |
| California | 12 | Nikkohl Santa Maria | Kara Contreras | Shadow Hills High School | It's Not Easy Being Green |
| New York | 7 | Angela Martino | Andrew Bankert | Clinton Middle School | HERE'S TO HEALTH! |
| Oregon | 8 | Grace Masback | Holly Walsh | Catlin Gabel | Four More Years |
| Alaska | 11 | Andrew Mendenhall | Elizabeth Alexander | North Pole High School | The Second Amendment |
| New York | 11 | Lauren Mendez | Kelly Barry | Hauppauge High School | The Affordability of College |
| Florida | 9 | Joseph Meyer | Laura Yocum | Bishop Kenny High School | The Education System |
| New York | 12 | Hunter Mori | Cyndi Kropp | Onc Boces | Immigrant Influence on America |
| Georgia | 8 | Nicholas Moring | Laura Burgess | North Gwinnett Middle School | We the People of the United States of America Say "No" to the Electoral College |
| Illinois | 7 | Anisha Narain | Mark Fletcher | Margaret Mead Junior High | Reforming College Education |
| Vermont | 8 | Theo Moore Odell | Michael Lonergan | Brattleboro Area Middle School | Lower Military Spending |
| Arizona | 9 | Kye Ostby | Tony Rosenberger | River Valley High School | Abolish the Electoral College |
| Ohio | 10 | Michela Palma | Toni Tayler | Aurora High School | America, the Land of Opportunity |
| Texas | 8 | Elize Perez | Carrie Hunnicutt | South Houston Intermediate | Thoughts for the President |
| New Hampshire | 8 | Tate Pinyochon | Kate Wolff | Hampstead Middle School | Education in the US Today |
| Vermont | 7 | Emma Ramirez-Richer | Carly Bennett | Shelburne Community School | Natural Gas Depletion on our Earth |
| Alabama | 10 | Sarah Rose Reynolds | Dorothy Hamlett | Athens High School | The ObamaCare Disaster |
| Vermont | 8 | Brooke Roberts | Michael Lonergan | Brattleboro Area Middle School | Lowering Teen Suicide Rates |
| 11 | Chase Rochin | Alexandria Malloy | Put America Back to Work | ||
| Pennsylvania | 8 | Carrie Schreck | Kelly Gunn | Cochranton Jr-Sr High School | Education |
| New Jersey | 11 | Colin Sheehan | Walter Bowne | Eastern Regional High School | Support Labor Rights |
| Hawaii | 8 | Tristan Sienkiewicz | Julie Camarillo | Hawaii Preparatory Academy | Green Energy |
| Washington | 8 | Izzy Silber | Ilana Long | Open Window School | The Importance of Education |
| Texas | 8 | Noah Seth Simon | Cindy St John | Fulmore Middle School | Our Environment |
| Montana | 12 | Melissa Sinerius | Francis Spring | Powell County High School | Please Make College Affordable |
| Michigan | 9 | Sara Skarshaug | Kassab Maya | Traverse City West High | Budget Cuts Hurt Education |
| Texas | 11 | Jordan Smith | Kelly Ridge | Clear Falls High School | NASA |
| California | 12 | Sergio Soria-Gil | Nancy Hale | New Technology High School | Green Forward |
| Tennessee | 11 | Madison Spence | Scott Johnson | Lausanne Collegiate School | Please Bring Our Troops Home |
| Texas | 10 | Hunter Tanem | Sheri Bell | Cleburne High School | Air Pollution |
| California | 12 | Otto Tielemans | Melanie Lindsey | Foothill Technology High School | Show Me The Money |
| Oklahoma | 11 | Mckayla Todd | Becky Beagle | Pawnee High School | Immigration |
| Texas | 11 | Shelly Tran | Beth Scully | Clear Springs High School | The Many Hats Teachers Wear |
| New York | 11 | Laura Treers | Rebecca Bartlett | Mohonasen High School | Green Energy for a Sustainable Future |
| California | 12 | Darya Tsakke | Mary Palmer | Foothill High School | Our Students, Our Nation |
| Georgia | 11 | Shakela Uddin | Amanda Chanco | Meadowcreek High School | Dear Mr. President |
| California | 8 | Stephanie Urista | Stacey Bibo | Ida Price Middle School | Art and Music Cuts in Schools |
| Texas | 12 | Jennifer Vasquez | Sheri Bell | Cleburne High School | Same Sex Marriage |
| South Dakota | 12 | Rachael Vinzant | Joanne Bohl | West Central High School | Education in America |
| Kansas | 11 | Athena Vu | Jennifer Fry | Wichita East | Little Flowers |
| Texas | 12 | Howard Watts Ii | Tanesha Smith | San Augustine High School | Do Students in Rural Towns Receive Same Educational Opportunities as Students from Urban Towns? |
| Ohio | 7 | Trevor Wells | Theresa Downing | Ankeney Middle School | Healthcare |
| Arizona | 10 | Isabella West | Catherine Copic | Perry High School | Words in the Music |
| Massachusetts | 8 | Kyle Wunder | Kristin Monteith | Mashpee Middle School | War in the Middle East |
