Ultimate Civics Showdown: Trump Meets Homeschooled Winner of Presidential 1776 Award Competition at the Oval Office

President Donald Trump met with the three top scorers for the Presidential 1776 Award competition Wednesday in the Oval Office and gave them each a Presidential Challenge Coin.

According to a U.S. Department of Education press release, the “Ultimate Civics Showdown” is a “nationwide civics challenge created to celebrate America’s top high school students and their knowledge of our nation’s founding principles.”

“Tonight, we have the privilege of celebrating some of America’s most exceptional young minds as they take the national stage in the Presidential 1776 Award Finals,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.

On June 30, eight students advanced to the national finals. This followed three rigorous qualifying rounds, in which over 8,000 students across all 50 states and territories competed.

The three winners were Miriam Washut, a homeschooler from Wyoming; Summer Brondstetter from Washington; and Rowan Kozminski from Michigan.

Trump and McMahon met with the top three scorers in the Oval Office and awarded each student with a Presidential Challenge Coin and a total of $250,000 in scholarship prizes between them.

“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!” 

In 2024, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation published an alarming study finding that more than 70% of Americans fail a basic civic literacy quiz on simple topics “like the three branches of government.”

The Presidential 1776 Award competition is an attempt to counter decreasing civic knowledge so students can understand the political world they are stepping into.