Originally published on 9/9/2020
Rodeo Palms Junior High student Marcus Lewis, Jr., is the winner of the National Student Essay Competition online “popular choice” vote. More than 200 students in grades six through university and college across the United States submitted essays examining the state of freedom of the press in the United States today in light of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The National Student Essay Competition is funded by the McCarthey Family Foundation, co-sponsored by the Boston Globe and Westminster College of Salt Lake City and supported by the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and media outlets from around the country. Lewis’ essay is posted at https:// mklpr.com/national-student-essay-competition/winners.
The prizes will be presented November 7, 2020 at the 15th Annual McCarthey Family Foundation Lecture Series: In Praise of Independent Journalism shown on YouTube. Jane Mayer, investigative journalist and staff writer at the New Yorker, will be the guest speaker commenting on the presidential elections held four days earlier.
Marcus will also receive a check for $1,000 from MKL Public Relations.