On Constitution Day (September 17), the FCBA announced the winners of its Eleventh Annual Constitution Contest.
Sixteen high school students from the Northern District entered this year’s Contest, which (as last year) offered two categories: (1) for video essays less than ten minutes in length that have been posted on the social media platform YouTube; and (2) for posters in any medium (paper or digital) submitted in PDF format. Nine entries were received in the Video Category, and seven entries were received in the Poster Category.
Entries came from nine high schools across the Northern District: Bethlehem Central High School in Albany County; Binghamton High School in Broome County; a homeschool in the East Syracuse Minoa Central School District in Onondaga County; Fayetteville-Manlius High School in Onondaga County; Guilderland High School in Albany County; Jamesville-DeWitt High School in Onondaga County; Niskayuna High School in Schenectady County; Remsen Senior High School in Oneida and Herkimer Counties; and Utica Academy of Science Charter School in Oneida and Herkimer Counties.
As was the case last year, each entry was required to address one of the following four topics: (1) the independence of federal court judges; (2) the 17 enumerated powers of Congress; (3) the 27 amendments to the Constitution; and (4) James Madison’s famous “If men were angels” passage from Federalist No. 51 (Feb. 8, 1788).
Entries this year were evaluated by five federal judges: U.S. District Judge Anne M. Nardacci; U.S. District Judge Elizabeth C. Coombe; U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel J. Stewart; U.S. Magistrate Judge Miroslav Lovric; and U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul J. Evangelista. The judges evaluated each entry based on the extent to which the entry’s answers to the specific questions posed in the topic were complete, clear, and cogent.
First place in the Video Category went to Mahi Barot of Guilderland High School, who was awarded $1,000 for her entry on Topic 1. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxRKrB4zVw4.
Second place in the Video Category went to Jordan Prince of Binghamton High School, who was awarded $500 for his entry on Topic 3. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SWl0Ide1H0.
Third place in the Video Category went to Derek Commandeur of Jamesville-DeWitt High School, who was awarded $250 for his entry on Topic 3. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgc-FHsE2-I. Fourth place in the Video Category was shared by Kinslove Falade of Binghamton High School and Zayan Mubeen of Fayetteville-Manlius High School, who were each awarded $125 for their entries on Topics 1 and 4, respectively. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIZbQLJ8cAM&t=2s;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIZbQLJ8cAM&t=2s; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpGxYdu_OtQ. Fifth place in the Video Category went to Marissa Karis of Remsen Senior High School, who was awarded $75 for her entry on Topic 3.
First place in the Poster Category went to Parth Prajapati of Niskayuna High School, who was awarded $1,000 for his entry on Topic 1. See Attached Entry P-5.
Second place in the Poster Category went to Tatev Dadian of Binghamton High School, who was awarded $500 for her entry on Topic 3. See Attached Entry P-6.
Third place in the Poster Category went to Mariam Endeladze of Fayetteville-Manlius High School, who was awarded $250 for her entry on Topic 1. Fourth place in the Poster Category went to Eldin Borovic of Utica Academy of Science Charter School, who was awarded $125 for his entry on Topic 1. Fifth place in the Poster Category was shared by Ellie Katz of Bethlehem Central High School, Brooklyn Helmer of Remsen Senior High School, and Caleb DeMaria of the East Syracuse Minoa School District, who were each awarded $75 for their entries on Topic 3.
The three remaining contestants received honorable mentions and shared the remainder of $4,250 in prize money (each receiving a prize of $25).
Over the past eleven years, the Program has awarded $38,600 in prize money to 205 students from 40 high schools in the Northern District. The twelfth annual contest will be announced in winter 2027. A list of official rules and topics will be available on the contest’s new webpage on the NDNY-FCBA’s website. See https://ndnyfcba.org/awards-and-special-programs/constitutional-scholars-program. As in past years, the contest will be open to all students in grades 9 through 12 in the 32 counties that comprise the Northern District of New York.