District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands

On May 9, 2024, the United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands hosted the 9th Annual Ninth Circuit Civics Contest District Level Awards Ceremony to honor this year's winners from the District. The Ninth Circuit Civics Contest is an essay and video contest for high school students in the western United States and two Pacific Island jurisdictions. This year’s theme is: 70 Years Later – The Legacy of Brown v. Board of Education. Brown v. Board of Education is widely accepted as one of the most momentous Supreme Court decisions, but views differ regarding what impact it has had on the law and our society. The contest challenged students to address and consider what impact the Brown case has had and why.

The essays were returned to the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands without any name or school identifiers to be judged solely on the students’ understanding of constitutional principles, clarity and effectiveness in expressing the theme, grammar, spelling, and composition, and use of footnotes and bibliographies properly attributing information taken from other sources. With a notable increase in submissions, the Court decided to recognize the top 10 participants and the top 3 winners in both the essay and video categories.

The following students are part of the top 10 award recipients:

• Shuang Zhao – Marianas High School
• Jia Ross Nicdao – Marianas High School
• Jhaylin Cruz – Marianas High School
• Dong Hyun Lee – Saipan International School
• Zi Ting Wu – Saipan International School
• Moshe Sikkel – Saipan International School
• Joshua Yoo – Saipan International School

The winners for the essay category were:

1st Place ($200) – Irene Park from Saipan International School
2nd Place ($150) – Gwanpil Son from Marianas High School
3rd Place ($100) – Trixia Jhoanne Singca from Marianas High School

The winners for the video category were:

1st Place ($200) – team of Eva Lizunova, Linda Li, and Nikki Qiu from Saipan International School
2nd Place ($150) – team of Jeongbin Park, Keylie Claveria, and Zi Hao Zhou from Saipan International School
3rd Place ($100) – team of Misha Kim from Saipan International School and Ayung Lee from Mt. Carmel School 

All awardees with Chief Judge Manglona and Magistrate Judge Kennedy
 

L-R: Chief Judge Manglona, 3rd place essay winner Trixia Jhoanne Singca from Marianas High School, Top 10 awardees Jia Ross Nicdao from Marianas High School, Zi Ting Wu, Joshua Yoo, Dong Hyun Lee from Saipan International School, 1st place essay winner Irene Park from Saipan International School, 2nd place essay winner Gwanpil Son from Marianas High School, Top 10 awardee Jhaylin Cruz from Marianas High School, and Magistrate Judge Kennedy. (Not in photo: Top 10 awardees Shuang Zhao from Marianas High School and Moshe Sikkel from Saipan International School.)
 

Video category winners. L-R: Chief Judge Manglona, 3rd place – team of Eva Lizunova, Linda Li, and Nikki Qiu from Saipan International School, 1st place – team of Misha Kim from Saipan International School and Ayung Lee from Mt. Carmel School, 2nd place – team of Jeongbin Park, Keylie Claveria, and Zi Hao Zhou from Saipan International School, and Magistrate Judge Kennedy.