Hildene Essay Competition Honors Maple Street Students

Maple Street School is proud to celebrate two students who were recognized in this year’s Hildene Lincoln Essay Competition, a statewide program now in its 20th year that invites Vermont eighth graders to connect Abraham Lincoln’s ideals to issues facing society today.

Eighth grader Dylan Miksis earned First Place in Region Three out of 147 submissions from across Vermont, while fellow Maple Street student Isla Dowd received an Honorable Mention for her essay. 

In Dylan’s award letter, judges praised the strength and clarity of his essay, which argued that defunding public broadcasting threatens liberty by limiting access to reliable and independent information, particularly in rural communities where local newspapers are disappearing. The judges wrote that Dylan “built your argument ending with the powerful concluding sentence, ‘When access to reliable information disappears, liberty inevitably fades with it.’” 

As a regional first-place winner, Dylan was invited to read his essay aloud during the annual awards ceremony and luncheon at Hildene’s Lincoln Hall. “We are incredibly proud of Dylan and Isla,” said Head of School Dan Skoglund. “Both students demonstrated thoughtful analysis, strong writing, and a willingness to engage deeply with important questions about democracy, citizenship, and community. Their recognition reflects the kind of curiosity and courage we hope to nurture in all of our students.”

The Hildene Lincoln Essay Competition encourages Vermont students to reflect on the enduring relevance of Lincoln’s words and ideas while developing their own voices as writers and citizens.