Cary Grove High School claimed six winning spots including first place in the Illinois First Amendment Center/Illinois Press Foundation’s annual First Amendment poster contest. The theme this year was Freedom of Speech.
 Lauren Miller won first place and $1,000 for her poster depicting a girl standing near a train station with a cardboard sign that reads, “I am free to say what I want to say.”
“I wanted to put the First Amendment into a simple sentence that is easy for everyone to understand,” Miller said.
Miller said she wants to become a professional photographer and will use her prize money for college.
Second place and $750 went to Sean Duffy of Heyworth High School, who used a drive-in theater marquee to spread his free-speech message: Let it play.
Third place was split between Lauren Bernier of Cary Grove High School and Nikki Lewis of Mahomet-Seymour High School. They each received $375.
Twelve honorable mention awards and $100 each went to Ashley LaGrow of R.O.W.V.A. High School in Oneida; Chelsie Tamms, Katie Finlon, John Donohue and Joe Godawski of Cary Grove High School; Kelsey Conrad, Bailey Thomas and Corey McClure of Taylorville High School; Zedan Rong of University Laboratory High School in Urbana; Stella Tu of Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook; and Taylor Celey and Lance Bunn of Heyworth High School. A “creative message” award and $100 went to Jonathan Williams of Belleville East High School.
Nearly 30 media professionals judged the 83 contest entries. “The quality of posters was phenomenal,” said Sue Montalvo, director of the Illinois First Amendment Center. “By tapping into the students’ creativity, you really get an idea of how they regard their First Amendment rights. Hopefully, their enthusiasm and understanding will spread to other students.”
This was the fourth year for the poster contest. Winning entries may be used by the Illinois First Amendment Center to help spread awareness of First Amendment rights. The contest is made possible by a grant from the McCormick Foundation.
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Download all Winning Posters (2.83 MB)