$1,000 First Prize: “Blood Chocolate—A Just Dessert?” by Sadaf Qureshi, age seventeen. Includes award certificate and a three-year membership in the American Humanist Association

2nd Prize: “No Water, No Peace: Beyond the Ethnic Battle in Darfur” by Hannah Hussey, age seventeen. Includes award certificate, Humanist Library, and a three-year membership in the American Humanist Association

3rd Prize: “Looking Beyond Celebrities and Congressmen: Addressing Public Health Crises in Sub-Saharan Africa" by Haley Kossek, age seventeen. Includes award certificate and three-year membership in the American Humanist Association

Honorable Mention: “The Status of Women in Africa” by Sarah Abuali, age eighteen. Includes award certificate and one-year membership in the American Humanist Association

The Humanist Essay Contest for Young Men and Women of North America is geared toward exposing students in grades 9-12 to humanism and issues of importance to humanists, while financially helping these young scholars advance in their studies. Prizes are awarded for originality of thought, sense of emotional engagement, clarity and quality of presentation, amount of research evidenced, and future potential shown by the author.

We were gratified by the interest students showed in the contest. In what these young people have shared with us, we see hope for the future. So we extend our sincere thanks to all who entered, to those who inspired the entrants, and to the contest judges.

JUDGES: Jennifer Bardi, Bob Bhaerman, Fred Edwords, Karen Frantz, Jende Huang, and Pete Jones

The 2009 Humanist Essay Contest begins January 1, 2009, and will accept submissions until April 3, 2009. For updates, visit the Humanist website at www.thehumanist.org, phone toll free at 800.837.3792, or write to the Humanist Essay Contest, 1777 T Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009-7125.