On Wednesday, Dec. 3, Ponte Vedra High School students were recognized at the Bryan Simpson United States Courthouse for their outstanding achievement in the U.S. District Court High School Essay Contest.
Students from the greater Duval, St. Johns and surrounding counties are encouraged to participate in the contest by their teachers and principals. This year, close to 390 essays were submitted. Essays were focused on the students’ experience in civic advocacy and the importance of engaging in your community and supporting others. The responses were varied, and more than half were from Ponte Vedra High School. The judging process was completely blind without notice of name, gender or location of the student as 48 local attorneys and 12 judges volunteered their time to read and grade all the submissions.
Seven of the top 10 awards were given to Ponte Vedra students. Rachel Marino, a senior at Ponte Vedra, came in first place and received a scholarship check of $2,000. Marino also received the chance to shadow Judge Morales Howard for a day.
Second place was awarded to Jonathon Milicevic who received a $1,000 scholarship.
The schools of all the winners as well as their teachers were awarded grants for school and classroom purchases.
Here is a full list of all the winners:
