WASHINGTON, April 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As America prepares to celebrate its 250th Anniversary, a three-part national contest series asks students from across the United States to express their vision of the future of American democracy through writing, art, and performance. This initiative is a collaborative effort between More Perfect, an American alliance working to revitalize democracy, Students United News Network (SUNN), a non-partisan organization publishing student journalism and youth civic media, and the USA TODAY Network.
The contests will roll out over the course of the year and invite middle and high school students in 5th through 12th grade to explore American identity, democratic values, and civic engagement through original work in various creative mediums. The three contests, which will be grounded in themes of unity, belonging, and bridging divides, include:
"Preparing for America's 250th anniversary is not only about honoring our history, but also about investing in the next generation of civic leaders," said John Bridgeland, Founder & CEO of More Perfect. "By inviting students to create, reflect, and participate through these national contests, this initiative helps young people build civic knowledge, confidence, and a sense of agency in our democracy. We're proud to support this effort to expand meaningful civic learning and engagement nationwide."
The first of these contests, Fly Your Flag, launches today, inviting students to design a flag that represents their vision of America and what it means to belong to this nation. Submissions will be accepted through May 19, 2026. Finalists will be announced on June 15, 2026; and winners will be announced July 1, 2026.
Submissions will be evaluated by a distinguished panel of judges, including Louise Dube, iCivics CEO, Sharon McMahon, known as "America's Government Teacher", Jasmine Jones, Olympian medalist and Air Force member, and renowned artist, Kadir Nelson.
Interested students can find more information and contest requirements here.
To help teachers integrate the contests into social studies, language arts, and interdisciplinary instruction, SUNN will provide comprehensive educational support, including lesson overviews, student toolkits, rubrics, and journalist-led instructional videos.
"At a time when civic knowledge is declining and polarization is rising, students and teachers need accessible, creative, and nonpartisan ways to engage with democracy," said Amanda Little, Executive Director of SUNN Inc. "This innovative contest series provides classroom-ready tools that allow students to explore civic identity and democratic values in ways that feel relevant, inspiring, and developmentally appropriate."
The USA TODAY Network, including USA TODAY and more than 200 local publications, will lead national marketing and amplification of the contests as large-scale civic participation campaigns. Finalists and runners-up will be featured across USA TODAY Network publications and SUNN channels, with select student work highlighted nationally and locally.
"The 250th anniversary of the United States presents a rare and powerful moment to invite young people not just to learn about democracy, but to help imagine its future," said Paige Windsor, USA TODAY Network Senior Director of Local News and USA 250 programming lead. "Through this partnership with SUNN and support from More Perfect, this project responds to that moment by positioning students as creative contributors to civic culture."
For more information about the contest series, visit: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/usa250/2026/04/06/sunn-usat-contests/89286303007/.
About More Perfect
More Perfect is an American alliance of 44 Presidential Centers, National Archives Foundation, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Karsh Institute of Democracy at the University of Virginia, and more than 100 organizations working together to advance five Democracy Goals: 1) Universal Civic Learning; 2) Expanding National Service & Volunteering; 3) Bridging Divides; 4) Trusted Elections & More Representative & Responsive Governance; and 5) Access to Trusted News and Information.
About Students United News Network (SUNN)
The Students United News Network (SUNN) is a fast-growing community of the top 150+ student newsrooms across 34 states. SUNN recently launched a non-partisan national student newspaper, The SUNN Post (http://www.sunnpost.com/), which syndicates and commissions high school and undergraduate reporting, features, and opinion writing, reaching an initial audience of tens of thousands monthly. SUNN pays students directly for the writing, graphics, and video content published. A project of the youth civics organization Kidizenship (a registered 501(c)(3)), SUNN is connecting young Americans to high-integrity news and civic media with the goal of modernizing civics and student journalism programming while strengthening the free press.
SUNN socials: @sunnposts
About USA TODAY Network
USA TODAY NETWORK, part of USA TODAY Co, Inc. (NYSE: TDAY), is the leading news media publisher in the U.S. in terms of circulation and has the largest digital audience in the News and Information category, excluding news aggregators, based on the December 2025 Comscore Media Metrix® Desktop + Mobile. Our USA TODAY Media segment includes the USA TODAY NETWORK, comprised of the national publication, USA TODAY, and our network of local properties in the U.S., as well as USA TODAY NETWORK Ventures, our community events business. As of December 31, 2025, we operated over 320 digital news and media brands across our portfolio, and USA TODAY NETWORK had daily and weekly content brands in approximately 215 local communities across 43 states. With deep roots in local communities spanning the U.S., we engage approximately 132 million monthly unique visitors, on average, through a diverse portfolio of multi-platform content offerings and experiences. For more information, visit usatodayco.com.
For press inquiries, contact:
More Perfect - [email protected]
USA TODAY Co. - [email protected]
SOURCE More Perfect
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