$1,000 First Prize: "Shadow Massacre" by J.B. Marek, age seventeen Includes award certificate and a three-year membership in the American Humanist Association (Click here to read winning essay).

2nd Prize: "The Shadow of Child Soldiers" by Johnson Ukken, age seventeen Includes award certificate, Humanist Library, and a three-year membership in the American Humanist Association.

3rd Prize: "The Question of Maternal Health is Not a Question" by Ronan P. Dalcross, age seventeen Includes award certificate and three-year membership in the American Humanist Association.

Honorable Mention: "Feeding the World" by Teresa Ristow, age seventeen Includes award certificate and one-year membership in the American Humanist Association.

*AHA Membership includes subscription to the Humanist magazine!

JUDGES: Maggie Ardiente, Jennifer Bardi, Fred Edwords, Michael Friedman, Karen Gajewski

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.

The 2008 Humanist Essay Contest will be announced in September and will accept submissions until March 3, 2008. 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.