Reed Student Wins Essay Contest On American Freedom

By Eliza Hallabeck

When her sixth grade teacher, Valerie Hepburn-Pagano, handed out a new assignment to the class, Reed Intermediate School student Hunter James thought it would be cool to win this year’s American Freedom Essay Contest, run by The Constitutional Walking Tour of Philadelphia, but she did not think she could win.

“When I first learned I was the winner,” said Hunter on Wednesday, November 18, “I was completely in shock.”

This year was the third year the Annual Constitution Day Essay Contest, also called the American Freedom Essay Contest. In honor of Constitution Day, September 17, the Constitutional Walking Tour asked students to write about American freedom.

The entries had to be 100 to 300 words long, and the submission deadline was October 16. There were three levels for the entries to by judged; Elementary School, Middle School, and High School. As a sixth grade student, Hunter said she did not expect to win, because she placed in the youngest level of her category.

The winners from each category of the American Freedom Essay Contest won a free trip for their class with The Constitutional Walking Tour. In Hunter’s case, her entire cluster, with teachers Ms Hepburn-Pagano and Richard Neeb, will be going.

Hunter said each student in her cluster wrote an essay, but had the choice whether submit it to the contest.

She wrote three drafts of her essay, and at the time when she was writing the first draft, “I was going to New York City that weekend. I was thinking about New York City, and how fun Philadelphia would be if we actually had a chance to go.”

Now thinking about the chance she and the rest of her cluster will be getting when they take the historic walking tour later this school year, she said she is looking forward to “pretty much all of it.”

Places included in The Constitutional Walking Tour of Philadelphia are Independence Hall, The Liberty Bell Center, the Betsy Ross House, the National Constitution Center, the Declaration House, the Carpenters’ Hall, The First Bank of the United States, and more.

Hunter plans to present her essay to the Board of Education during its next scheduled meeting on Tuesday, December 1, in the Reed Intermediate School library.

Hunter said her cluster is focusing on a globalization unit now in social studies, and if she could add anything to her essay now, she would add a global perspective.

“The freedom we have in America is slowly spreading to the whole globe,” said Hunter, “and it is slowly making the whole world a more free and more enjoyable place.”

A Crowded

Subway

by Hunter James

A crowded subway, filled with people and nothing but noise. People talking about business, family, sports, and almost everything else are surrounding you. The woman next to you doesn’t like how our president is running the country, and the man accompanying her is complaining about the stock market. These conversations may seem common and occasionally annoying, but imagine if we couldn’t have them? Now think of an equally crowded subway, filled with just as many people, but none of the noise. The lady behind you is praising the leader of our nation, but her face shows obvious dislike. A few people give murmured agreements, but many of them share the same expression. This is the country as it would be if we didn’t have Freedom of Speech. This crucial American freedom is an important aspect in everyone’s lives, but many take it for granted. We don’t realize how important it is and what life would be like without it.

Freedom of Speech is one of our basic freedoms, yet it is very important. Without this freedom, no one would’ve stood up for themselves and what they believed in. People like Martin Luther King Jr. wouldn’t be recognized for what they did, because they wouldn’t have been able to do it. Those people would’ve been arrested just for speaking out and attempting to change the world.

“It is by the fortune of God that, in this country, we have three benefits: freedom of speech, freedom of thought, and the wisdom never to use either.” ~ Mark Twain.

I’m in the subway once more. I’m back to how it was: people complaining and giving their opinions. Except now I enjoy the noise. It is the sound of freedom.