High school students are invited to enter the 2025 Northern District of California Civics Contest. This local contest is the first stage of the 2025 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest. The theme of this year’s essay and video contest is “When Duty Calls: Why Exercising the Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship is Important to Me.” In addressing the theme, students are encouraged to think about how rights and responsibilities are interrelated at both the personal and community levels, and reflect on why these principles are meaningful to them by writing an essay and/or creating a video presentation on this topic.
Entries will be accepted beginning January 8, 2025, with a submission deadline date of March 7, 2025.
Finalists in the Northern District of California’s local contest will be awarded $2,000 for first place, $1,500 for second place, and $1,000 for third place (shared between contestants for group video entries), and an opportunity to compete in the circuit-wide contest. To be eligible to compete in the Northern District of California’s local contest, students must reside in one of these counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, or Sonoma.
For further information on the contest rules and entry instructions, please visit https://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/civicscontest.
Questions about the district-level contest may be directed to Jennifer_Dale@cand.uscourts.gov.