Skip To Main Content
NHS Senior Trek Wedel wins Harvey County Constitution Essay Contest

Three Newton High School seniors were honored Wednesday evening in the NHS Media Center for their involvement in the second annual Harvey County Constitution essay contest.

Trek Wedel (1st), Riley Ney (2nd) and Hannah Litton (3rd) were honored out of the pool of 14 students who participated in the contest earlier this semester; 9 from NHS and 5 from Halstead High School.

The group had 780 words or less to answer the following prompt: Describe the limits that the Constitution places on popular participation in elections and why we should or should not keep them.

Local precinct committee person Mike Fellows worked with NHS History/Government teacher Carson Matile, and Halstead High School History/Government teacher Derek Schutte to make the contest available to high school seniors.

Judges, consisting of Harvey county dignitaries, reviewed the essays without knowing who the author was. Essays were scored and the top three winners received a cash prize for their placement, made possible by the Convention of States Foundation, Rotary Club - Newton, Graber’s Ace Hardware, Enduring Love Memorials, J&S Woods, and Shamrock Car Wash. 

Representative Stephen Owens presented the students with their prizes and spoke to the importance of the Constitution in our democracy.  Roger Erickson, district deputy director for Congressman Ron Estes, was also present to congratulate the winners on behalf of the congressman.

The group hopes to expand the essay contest to include all Harvey County schools, but for now, the first-place trophy will remain at Newton High School. 

(Photo Credit: Cathlina Bergman)