Oregon Student Wins $10,000 Grand Prize in Bill of Rights Institute’s MyImpact Challenge
As a result, she earned national recognition and a $10,000 award as the grand prize winner of the Bill of Rights Institute’s MyImpact Challenge.
The Bill of Rights Institute is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that teaches civics and history through market-leading curricula and educational programs for teachers and students.
Through its MyImpact Challenge civic engagement contest, the Bill of Rights Institute encourages students to develop service projects that benefit their communities and advance constitutional principles such as liberty, equality, and justice.
Gao, a recent graduate of West Albany High School in Albany, Ore., was selected as the grand prize winner from a national pool of entries for her work as founder of The World in Us.
The World in Us is a nonprofit organization that helps foster cross-cultural education and understanding through camps for young children and an intercultural exchange program for teens. The exchange program helps teens connect with peers from other cultures and countries to build friendships, learn languages, and more.
Gao started The World in Us as a local initiative, partnering with organizations such as the Greater Albany Public Schools District, the local Boys & Girls Club, and Oregon State University. Since 2020, The World in Us served more than 650 participants from 26 countries.
“We seek to empower every young person to not only care about but also proactively work to defend the equal rights, dignity, and liberty of all human beings,” Gao wrote in her MyImpact Challenge application.
David Bobb, President and CEO of the Bill of Rights Institute, said that MyImpact Challenge helps students become engaged within their communities while developing lifelong citizenship skills.
“Today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders, and it is important that young people learn to work within their communities to solve problems and create opportunities,” Bobb said. “Through MyImpact Challenge, students across our nation are doing the important work of becoming civically engaged and advancing the ideals of a free and just society.”
The Bill of Rights Institute awarded $40,000 in prizes through this year’s MyImpact Challenge. Other top prize winners included:
First Prize, $7,500: Rylee Brooke Kamahele, Homeschooled student, Mililani, Hawai'i
Second Prize, $5,000: Mark Leschinsky, Bergen County Academies, Hackensack, NJ
Third Prize, $2,500: Miyana Holden, Poly Prep Country Day School, Brooklyn, NY
Honorable Mentions, $1,500:
Audrey Su, Skyline High School, Millcreek, Utah
Ella Pintar, St. Margaret's Episcopal School, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
Kathryn Vercuse and Hampton Tester, Mater Dei High School, Santa Ana, Calif.
Katie Meggers, St. Margaret's Episcopal School, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
Tanisha Makam and Shriya Sreeju, Edward S. Marcus High School, Flower Mound, TX
Tulsi Patel, Oxford Academy, Cypress, Calif.
Kevin Hart, Vice President of Communications
Bill of Rights Institute
+1 202-674-1237
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