CONCORD -- A sixth-grade Nashua parochial school student and a ConVal High School senior have been chosen as winners of this year’s New Hampshire Constitution Day Essay Contest.
Katie Mahoney of the Infant Jesus School and Charlotte Fressilli will be honored at a reception Nov. 3 at the N.H. Supreme Court, along with 10 statewide finalists sponsored by seven newspapers.
In 2004, Congress declared that "Constitution Day" should be observed in schools each year on Sept. 17 with programs about the history of the Constitution. The New Hampshire contest, for middle and high school students, is held annually as part of the Constitution Day observance.
This year, students were asked to consider how the First Amendment right of Free Speech affects students _ while in a school building. The essay topic was: "In your opinion, when should a school be allowed to ban t-shirts that have certain kinds of messages and pictures on them?"
Constitution Day Winners announced
Nashua 6th grader, ConVal senior cited
Katie, of Nashua, acknowledged that some students believe banning certain clothing takes away their freedom. She wrote that she does not agree, especially if the clothing is inappropriate or disrespectful.
"Students have to know that with freedom comes responsibility," the sixth-grader wrote. "If children want to protest something, they can do it in a non-harmful way that doesn’t hurt anyone’s feelings and still gets their message out."
Charlotte, of Temple, wrote that because schools must ensure that every student feels safe and because students cannot simply leave school, administrators should have the right to regulate messages displayed on clothing if they feel the messages will make other students uncomfortable or unsafe.
"In a public place, one person has the right to wear a disturbing image on their clothing, just as the people around him/her have the right to remove themselves from that person," she wrote. "If you’re in a Walmart and someone is wearing something that makes you uncomfortable, get what you need and move to the next aisle."
Students who participated in the contest submitted entries to seven newspapers, which chose middle school and high school finalists. The state Supreme Court chose the statewide winners.
In addition to the court reception, the statewide winners will be honored at the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications First Amendment Awards event on Nov. 12 in Manchester. The school coordinates the contest.
Here are this year’s finalists and their newspaper sponsors:
Concord Monitor:
Middle School: David Udelson. Bow Memorial School. Grade 8.
High School: Isaac Chassman. Bow High School. Grade 11.
New Hampshire Union Leader:
Middle School: Olivia Lariviere. Hampstead Middle School. Grade 8
High School: Rachel E. Pantazis. Manchester Memorial High School. Grade 12
Portsmouth Herald:
Middle School: No Submissions
High School: Katie Zimmerman. Exeter High School. Grade 12.
The Caledonian-Record
Middle School: Alexandra Lynch. Stevens School of Peacham, Vt. Grade 8
High School: Joe Desjardins. Lin-Wood Public School. Grade 12
The Eagle-Tribune
Middle School: Ally Couture. Hampstead Middle School. Grade 8
High School: No Submissions
The Keene Sentinel:
Middle School: Kassidy Perkins. Keene Middle School. Grade 8
High School: Charlotte Fressilli. Contoocook Valley High School. Grade 12
The Telegraph:
Middle School: Katie Mahoney. Infant Jesus School. Grade 6
High School: Daniel Thompson. Milford High School. Grade 12
This message prepared by the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications
