HNOC Announces Winners of 2026 Student Writing Contest

Congratulations to all of our 2026 winners and honorable mentions! Read the entries on our website.

• First Place: “How My Parents Built on the Foundation of the Civil Rights Movement” by Emory Giwa-Feldbaum, 4th grade, Morris Jeff Community School, New Orleans, LA
• Second Place: “Diverse Voices, Stronger Nation” by Rey Basu-Chowdhury, 4th grade, Fairview Elementary School, Erie County, PA
• Third Place: Untitled by Meital Horwitz, 4th grade, Morris Jeff Community School, New Orleans, LA
• Honorable Mention: “The Trail They Blazed” by Chinedu Chukwuyem, 3rd grade, Harriet Tubman Charter School, New Orleans, LA

• First Place: “The Trail They Blazed” by Ce'Vanne Ursin, 8th grade, Ursuline Academy, New Orleans, LA
• Second Place: “Education Should Be Equal for Everyone” by Landry Ordoyne, 8th grade, Brother Martin High School, New Orleans, LA
• Third Place: Untitled by Annica Hoover, 8th grade, the Willow School, New Orleans, LA
• Honorable Mention: “Fighting for Rights 101: The Loud, the Quiet, and Everything in Between” by Millie Olsen, 6th grade, Homer A. Plessy Community School, New Orleans, LA

• First Place: “One System, Many Failures: A Civil Rights Crisis Facing My Generation” by Morgan Delilah Hawkins, 12th grade, St. Joseph’s Academy Catholic School, Baton Rouge, LA
• Second Place: “A New Fight for Civil Rights” by Elan Wolters, 9th grade, the Willow School, New Orleans, LA
• Third Place: “After the Doors Opened” by Cameron Collins, 12th grade, Slidell High School, Slidell, LA
• Honorable Mention: “Fragments of Freedom” by Brooklynn Richard, 9th grade, the Willow School, New Orleans, LA
• Honorable Mention: Untitled by Siri Panchumarthi, 9th grade, the Hockaday School, Dallas, TX