A 17-year-old homeschooler from Wyoming turned her command of American history into a $150,000 scholarship and a visit to the Oval Office after winning the Trump administration’s first-ever “Presidential 1776 Award: The Ultimate Civics Showdown.”
Miriam Washut of Lander, Wyoming, outlasted more than 8,000 high school students from every state and U.S. territory to become the competition’s inaugural national champion. Summer Brondstetter of Washington finished second, earning a $75,000 scholarship, while Rowan Kozminski of Michigan placed third and received $25,000.
President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon welcomed the three winners to the White House, where Trump congratulated them and presented each with a Presidential Challenge Coin.
Washut’s victory capped a months-long competition designed to test far more than familiarity with famous dates and founding documents. Students faced questions on the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, Revolutionary War battles, the Founding Fathers, and the ideas that shaped the American republic.
The competition also attracted a surprisingly large national audience. According to the Department of Education, 1.63 million viewers tuned in to CBS for the June 30 broadcast of the finals. That was more than twice CNN’s average daily audience of approximately 496,000 viewers and well above the roughly 655,000 viewers who watch MS NOW on an average day. Additional viewers streamed the event on Paramount+ in the days after the broadcast.
“The numbers speak for themselves: the American people care far more about our nation’s history and the students that will lead us into the future than the lies and propaganda perpetrated by the fake news media,” McMahon said.
“Our outstanding competitors’ passion for American history has inspired over a million people,” she continued. “Despite what many fringe radicals claim, America’s founding ideals and values stand firm, and they continue to unite us 250 years later.”
Created as part of the administration’s celebration of America’s semiquincentennial, the Presidential 1776 Award was intended to promote civic literacy while honoring students with exceptional knowledge of the nation’s founding.
The competition began in February with the aptly named “Impossible Civics Test,” a 90-minute online examination divided into sections on the founding era, American government, and Revolutionary history. The highest-scoring students from each state, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories advanced to regional semifinals.
In May, 173 students competed at five presidential libraries and museums across the country. There, they answered verbal short-answer questions on the Constitution, the American founding, and pivotal moments in U.S. history. The top four students from each region advanced to the national competition in Washington.
The finalists then gathered at the Kennedy Center for a game-show-style academic showdown. Contestants answered rapid-fire, short-answer, and essay-style questions before judges as the field was gradually narrowed. The format resembled a blend of “Jeopardy!,” “Family Feud,” and the Scripps National Spelling Bee, with students competing under pressure before a live audience.
The multiple-choice and oral examinations were developed independently by the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation, a congressionally established organization devoted to improving the teaching of the Constitution in America’s secondary schools.
“The James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation is honored to serve independently as both the writers of the questions and the judges for the Presidential 1776 Award,” said Julie Adams, the foundation’s executive secretary and CEO.
“Our James Madison Fellows are among the best teacher-scholars on the U.S. Constitution and the American Founding, and they will write challenging but fair questions for the intrepid students who take part in the award,” Adams continued. “The knowledge of American civics and history is vital to the survival of the Republic.”
The civics competition accompanied the Department of Education’s nationwide “History Rocks! Trail to Independence Tour,” through which McMahon has visited schools and encouraged students to recognize that “civics is cool.”
“Created as part of our nation’s Semiquincentennial celebrations, this award recognizes students who have demonstrated a deep understanding of America’s founding principles and enthusiasm for learning America’s story,” McMahon said.
“What better way to celebrate 250 years of this great nation than by honoring those who will carry us into the next 250!”
For Washut, the competition delivered a substantial college scholarship, national recognition, and a meeting with the president. For the Trump administration, the strong audience suggested that Americans remain eager to celebrate students who have taken the time to master their nation’s history.
Alan Jamison is the pen name of a political writer with extensive experience writing for several notable politicians and news outlets.
Congrats Miss Washut, hopefully you will be an inspiration of your generation.