Congratulations to Kristen DiGiorgio and Shannon Kuehmichel, KEMPA advisers who won $1,000 prizes for their projects. DiGiorgio advises the online newspaper at Bradley Bourbonnais Community High School in Bradley, Illinois. Kuehmichel advises the Red N Green newspaper at Berlin High School in Berlin, Wisconsin.

ASNE’s Youth Journalism website announced the results, May 27, 2015:

Teachers from across the country took the First Amendment Challenge, and 1 For All has awarded $1,000 to 40 of them for their outstanding lesson plans and student projects. The teachers’ innovative efforts helped educate hundreds of students about the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment.

“It’s been so gratifying to see centuries-old freedoms be taught in new and creative ways,” said Ken Paulson, founder of 1 For All and dean of the College of Mass Communication at Middle Tennessee State University. “Freedom is what fuels our democracy, yet we take it for granted. We’re pleased to honor the teachers who engage a new generation with  thought-provoking lessons in liberty.”

The Challenge, administered by the American Society of News Editors, aimed to promote the teaching of First Amendment freedoms in secondary schools and honor teachers for their innovative efforts. To learn about the First Amendment, students completed creative and educational projects, including videos, posters, newspaper articles, editorials, raps, artwork and presentations, and some students even worked to support legislation that protects student press rights.

“All our entrants deserve acknowledgement of the fine work they are doing in their classrooms to ensure that all our students understand the freedoms that they have and how to exercise them,” said Teri Hayt, executive director of ASNE. “The First Amendment is first for a reason. Our founding fathers’ belief that everyone has the right to enjoy religious freedom, to speak freely, to report about their world, to peaceably protest and to petition the government was an essential building block for a democratic society.”