What does it mean to be an American?

of the country type?
The Bill of Rights Institute wants to know what you, high schoolers out there, think. Better yet, how you express yourselves in writing.
U.S. high school students and their teachers have a chance to win thousands of dollars in prize money by participating in the Bill of Rights Institute’s fifth annual Being an American Essay Contest. Top prize winners and their teachers will also receive all-expenses paid trips to the nation’s capital.
All you have to do: write a 750 word essay answering this question: “What civic value do you believe is most essential to being an American?”
The top three student winners and their teachers from each of the nine geographical regions will be announced at a special Washington, D.C. Awards Gala in the spring of 2011, where they will be awarded cash prizes of $5,000 (First Place), $1,000 (Second Place), and $500 (Third Place). The winning students will also explore the nation’s capital, meet contemporary American heroes and national leaders, and visit national landmarks.
Deadline to submit the essay is Dec. 1. For more information, click here. And get writing!

Now, here's news of a local girl who's already getting noticed at the state level. And has a chance to win big.
Aradhana Sinha, a 10th grade student at Salinas High School, is one of three finalists for the prestigious Outstanding Young Scientist Award presented by the California Association
of Professional Scientists (CAPS). The winner will be announced at a luncheon ceremony at the
Sacramento Zoo’s Kampala Center from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Friday, September 17.
Aradhana, 14, was selected for her project titled “Effect of Virus Competition and Dominance in Different Host Types” which looks at how two different types of viruses reacted in a range of crops (tomato, spinach, lettuce and tobacco) when present on their own and when combined in the same plant.
Aradhana believes her research could help prevent future virus outbreaks in crops.
The winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship award and the two runner-ups each receive a $500 scholarship award. So the least Aradhana will come home with is $500.
And they say youth nowadays are apathetic, conformist, yada yada yada. Don't think so....