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Civic&nbsp;participation&nbsp;was on full display at&nbsp;the&nbsp;Forest Hills High School&nbsp;civics fair&nbsp;in Queens&nbsp;on Thursday, May 21.&nbsp;

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The&nbsp;MyImpact&nbsp;Challenge Civics Fair&nbsp;is&nbsp;a partnership between the Bill of Rights Institute, a&nbsp;nonprofit organization that teaches history and civics, and Forest Hills High School.&nbsp;MyImpact&nbsp;Challenge is&nbsp;the&nbsp;Institute’s&nbsp;national civic&nbsp;engagement&nbsp;contest&nbsp;that encourages students to apply constitutional principles, like equality&nbsp;and justice,&nbsp;and civic virtues, like respect and responsibility,&nbsp;to&nbsp;projects that&nbsp;benefit&nbsp;their&nbsp;local&nbsp;communities.&nbsp;

Throughout the day, some&nbsp;60 students&nbsp;showcased&nbsp;20&nbsp;projects&nbsp;centered on&nbsp;service, volunteerism, and entrepreneurship,&nbsp;while&nbsp;competing&nbsp;for&nbsp;$5,000 in&nbsp;prize money.&nbsp;More&nbsp;than 2,000&nbsp;students, teachers, and&nbsp;administrators&nbsp;attended the fair.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The&nbsp;participants&nbsp;presented their projects to a&nbsp;team&nbsp;of judges&nbsp;that included&nbsp;representatives from the NYCDOE Chancellor’s Office, Queens Borough President’s Office, Mayor’s Office, and the Bill of Rights Institute.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Student projects focus on addressing real community needs through&nbsp;a variety of&nbsp;initiatives, such as book drives, art programs for low-income students, tutoring programs, senior citizen programs addressing loneliness,&nbsp;and websites that offer&nbsp;free STEM resources&nbsp;and guides&nbsp;to help teachers plan culturally enriching field trips.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Awards were&nbsp;presented to the top projects:&nbsp;

1st&nbsp;Place:&nbsp;Maria Corrales, Karen Santoso, and Leslie Ferreira&nbsp;won $2,000&nbsp;for&nbsp;“Waste to Wonder,”&nbsp;which provides&nbsp;lessons&nbsp;for&nbsp;younger students&nbsp;on&nbsp;proper sustainability habits through creating art with recycled materials.&nbsp;&nbsp;

2nd&nbsp;Place:&nbsp;Marieta Vujicic, Isabel&nbsp;Arismendi, and Jacob Botier&nbsp;won $1,500 for “Work Wise,”&nbsp;which offers&nbsp;workshops to help students build valuable, real-world skills like resume building, networking, interview preparation,&nbsp;and&nbsp;financial literacy.&nbsp;

3rd&nbsp;Place:&nbsp;Anthony Moody, Ksenia Cili, Liane Gan&nbsp;won $1,000 for “Justice for All,”&nbsp;an enrichment program&nbsp;which&nbsp;help students&nbsp;gain a deeper understanding of their&nbsp;constitutional rights,&nbsp;like&nbsp;equal&nbsp;protection,&nbsp;free speech, free assembly, and due process.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Honorable Mentions&nbsp;of&nbsp;$250&nbsp;to&nbsp;Samira Bahodirova, Maftuna Usmanova, and Manahil Ikram&nbsp;for “LifeSavers,”&nbsp;which&nbsp;spreads&nbsp;awareness&nbsp;and prevention of teen dating violence;&nbsp;and&nbsp;$250 to&nbsp;Katherine Ha, Tenzin&nbsp;Tashitsang,&nbsp;and Manuel Flores&nbsp;for&nbsp;“Deaf Community,”&nbsp;which&nbsp;educates&nbsp;about the deaf community and fundraises&nbsp;to benefit the Lexington&nbsp;School for the Deaf arts program.

“We’ve seen so many original&nbsp;and well-investigated&nbsp;efforts from our students&nbsp;who have been out in the community, realizing their voice, understanding their agency,&nbsp;and really trying&nbsp;to see in concrete ways that they too can make a difference,”&nbsp;Paul Wilbur, principal of Forest Hills High School, said.&nbsp;“We’re very proud of the work we’re doing with&nbsp;the Bill of Rights Institute’s&nbsp;MyImpact&nbsp;Challenge&nbsp;and&nbsp;are&nbsp;glad&nbsp;to be their partners.”

Four people posing in a gymnasium beside a project display titled "Waste to Wonder."

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A large group of students poses for a photo in a gymnasium, holding a sign that says "New York City."

A group of students holds large checks in a gymnasium, celebrating various awards or scholarships.

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Categories	BRI in Action
Duration	3 min

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New York Students’ Projects Win Prizes at Civics Fair