Schools
Presidential Debate Inspires Metro Nashville Public Schools Student Essays
The winners received cash prizes from the Belmont University and had a chance to tour parts of the debate site on Monday.
October 20, 2020
As President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden prepare to visit Nashville this week for their final debate before the November 3 election, six MNPS students have been honored in the Presidential Debate Essay Contest sponsored by the school district and Belmont University.
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The winners, who received cash prizes from the university and had a chance to tour parts of the debate site on Belmont’s campus Monday, are:
High School:
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- 1st Place: Jamie Watson, Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet High School
- 2nd Place: Michayla George, Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet High School
- 3rd Place: Saida Bolduc, Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School
Middle School:
- 1st Place: Trane Abernathy, Rose Park Middle School
- 2nd Place: Mary Li, Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School
- 3rd Place: Atticus Mosser, West End Middle School
David Williams, MNPS’s Executive Officer for Teaching and Learning, praised the students for making the time to enter the contest and write thoughtful essays amid the challenges of attending school virtually this semester.
Jamie Watson, who wrote about the role the news media should play in elections, said he has always been interested in how the media work, so the contest “seemed like a cool thing to do.”
“It was the perfect prompt,” he said after the tour of the debate grounds.
The winning essays by Jamie and Trane were published in The Tennessean on Sunday. Congratulations to Jamie, Trane, Michayla, Saida, Mary Li and Atticus!
This press release was produced by the Metro Nashville Public Schools. The views expressed are the author's own.