First, Second, and Third Place “Working Across the Aisle – American Bipartisanship” student essay contest winners, center left to right, Neslo Atilla, Antonio Gomez, and Elias Montero, display their award certificates with Monroe County School District Social Studies Coordinator Jennifer C. Barrios, left, and Key West Harry S. Truman Foundation Acting Executive Director Clinton Curry, right. (Photo: Carol Tedesco/The Key West Harry S. Truman Foundation)

The Key West Harry S. Truman Foundation announces student essay competition winners

The Key West Harry S. Truman Foundation and The Society of Presidential Descendants are pleased to announce that First, Second, and Third-Place winners have been selected in the inaugural  “Presidential Families Weekend” student essay contest, introduced this year as a component of the Foundation’s annual array of Presidents’ Day weekend events.

Open to all Monroe County high school students, awards were announced and presented following the annual Presidential Families Forum, a moderated discussion among a panel of prominent presidential descendants held Feb. 18 on the grounds of the Key West Harry S. Truman Little White House.

Student competitors researched and wrote on the forum’s 2023 theme of “Working Across the Aisle – American Bipartisanship.”

First Place award was presented to Neslo Atilla, a 10th grade student at Key West High School, by presidential descendant Patricia Taft, great-granddaughter of 27th U.S. president William Howard Taft, for Atilla’s essay that details several notable examples of bipartisan governance, from 16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln with his “team of rivals” in the 1800s, to 44th U.S. president Barack Obama who used Lincoln’s “team of rivals” example as a model for populating his own cabinet.

Second Place award was presented by presidential descendant Susan Ford Bales, daughter of 38th U.S. president Gerald Ford, to Antonio Gomez, a KWHS 10th grade student whose essay examines the “Bipartisanship of Lyndon B. Johnson and his Great Society.”

Third Place award was presented to Elias Montero, an 11th grade KWHS student, by presidential descendant Mary Jean Eisenhower, granddaughter of 34th U.S. president General Dwight D. Eisenhower for his essay, “The Violence Against Women Act: A Bipartisan Milestone.”

Juried by members of the Key West Harry S. Truman Foundation and The Society of Presidential Descendants, competitor’s submissions were judged on factors that included their skill at presenting the subject compellingly according to competition guidelines; competitors were also required to provide documentation of having performed community service work during the past two years.

Monroe County School District Social Studies Coordinator Jennifer C. Barrios acted as liaison between the school district and the competition organizers, and accompanied the winning students to the Feb. 18 presidential descendants forum, where as part of their prize package they had a reserved table to experience the live moderated discussion before receiving their awards.

“The opportunity for our students to hear personal stories from presidential descendants that are not written in textbooks or taught in any classroom was priceless,” Barrios said. “And, it was really wonderful to see how the forum audience flocked to the winners to talk with and congratulate them. Even the descendants were telling them how impressed with them they were.”

“All of us from The Key West Harry S. Truman Foundation and The Society of Presidential Descendants who have been involved with the competition are so proud of these students and their accomplishments,” said Clinton Curry, the Foundation’s acting Executive Director. “These young people represent our future and it’s fantastic to see their ability to think critically—and yes from a bipartisan point of view—in presenting their works.”

First, Second and Third Place winners received cash prizes, tickets to attend the Feb. 18 forum, and a certificate of achievement.

The mission of The Harry S. Truman Foundation is to preserve the Harry S. Truman Little White House, Florida’s only presidential museum, and programming that supports civic engagement, education, and the historic and cultural influences of the Truman era. For more information about The Foundation and its programs, contact Rachel Katzenberger at [email protected].

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