ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES, June 20, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — As a second-generation American, Cincinnati student Anna Kunkel wanted to make the transition to American life a bit easier for families like hers.
Kunkel founded the Student Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees (SAIR), a student-based organization committed to supporting Cincinnati’s immigrant and refugee communities.
Now, Kunkel has been awarded the $10,000 national grand prize in the Bill of Rights Institute’s MyImpact Challenge.
The Bill of Rights Institute is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that teaches civics and history through market-leading curricula and educational programs for teachers and students.
Through its MyImpact Challenge civic engagement contest, the Bill of Rights Institute encourages students to develop service projects that benefit their communities and advance constitutional principles such as liberty, equality, and justice. More than 400 students from every corner of America participated in this year’s MyImpact Challenge.
Kunkel, a student at The Seven Hills School in Cincinnati, founded SAIR in February 2023 to help connect city immigrants and refugees to resources — and sometimes just to offer words of encouragement and a helping hand.
Through SAIR, Kunkel has secured free books for immigrant children to help them learn English, donated gift baskets of essentials for families, raised money for educational scholarships through the Trailblazer’s Trek Walk, and much more. SAIR also conducts a letter-writing campaign, where new immigrant and refugee families receive welcome letters from Cincinnati students.
Kunkel also collaborated with other nonprofits in the Cincinnati area to help build a network of support for immigrant and refugee families. She said that her work through SAIR has helped her better understand civic virtues like respect and courage.
“I am grateful to immigration and its impact on my perception of civic virtues,” Kunkel wrote in her MyImpact Challenge essay. “In my life, respect has transformed from a noun to a state of being. I see courage in every immigrant I meet, in their stories, and in their lives.”
David Bobb, President and CEO of the Bill of Rights Institute, said that MyImpact Challenge is helping students nationwide apply their civic knowledge to connect with their communities and develop vital citizenship skills.
“Civic education should not be confined to the four walls of a classroom,” Bobb said. “Through MyImpact Challenge, students are putting their skills and knowledge to work to improve their communities, solve local problems, and take the first steps toward a lifetime of civic engagement.”
The Bill of Rights Institute awarded nearly $40,000 in student and teacher prizes through this year’s MyImpact Challenge. In addition to Kunkel, other top prize winners included:
• First Prize, $7,500: Sebastian Tan, Sewickley Academy, Sewickley, PA
• Second Prize, $5,000: Grace Liu, Syosset High School, Syosset, NY
• Third Prize, $2,500: Brayden Pape, Helix Charter High School, La Mesa, CA
• Honorable Mention, $1,500: Alec Avedissian, Harvard-Westlake School, Studio City, CA
• Honorable Mention, $1,500: Saheb Nibber, Sergei Kudriavtcev, and Omar Reyes, The Awty International School, Houston, TX
• Honorable Mention, $1,500: Savina Wang, Arnold Beckman High School, Irvine, CA
• Honorable Mention, $1,500: Madison Poulson, Mooresville High School, Mooresville, IN
• Honorable Mention, $1,500: Sailee Charlu, Orange County School of the Arts, Santa Ana, CA
• Honorable Mention, $1,500: Sanjana Senthil, Carroll Senior High School, Southlake, TX
The Bill of Rights Institute is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that teaches civics and history through market-leading curricula and educational programs for teachers and students. To learn more about the Bill of Rights Institute, visit www.mybri.org. For more information on MyImpact Challenge, visit www.myimpactchallenge.org. MyImpact Challenge is sponsored in part by Huddle Up, an organization supporting children’s growth, development, and mental health. For more information, visit www.huddleupcare.com.
Kevin Hart
Bill of Rights Institute
+1 202-674-1237
email us here
