This year, America celebrates 250 years of the Declaration of Independence.
It’s a lot older than TEAM Westport. But it was a perfect topic for the town commission’s 13th Annual Teen Diversity Essay Contest.
Last night at the Westport Library, 2 high school students — younger even than 23-year-old TEAM Westport, the town’s multicultural commission — were honored as winners of that contest.
This year’s prompt asked students to reflect on the relevance and value of the Declaration of Independence in their lives; their duties or obligations to uphold its principles, and opportunities that Westporters have to reinforce those principles. (The full prompt is below, followed by the winners’ essays.)
Judging was done by producer and screenwriter Shonda Rhimes, the Westport Museum for History & Culture’s Michelle Rubin, and the Westport Library’s Alex Giannini.
Staples High School junior Kaila Patel won the $1,000 1st prize. She noted that although people like her — females and immigrants, were “never imagined as part of (its) promise … that flaw does not weaken the Declaration; it strengthens it.” To Kaila, “the Declaration was never the finished product. It was the catalyst.”
As a Korean and Indian girl growing in Westport, she recognizes “a luxury I can only live because of Jefferson’s ideals, because of women and men across America centuries ago, using the themes of the Declaration of Independence as a template, creating equality so people like me can go to school, claim independence, and live their lives freely.”
One of her own ways to give back, Kaila says, is by becoming an EMT. She looks forward to not simply “inheriting” the Declaration’s promise, but building on it.
Staples sophomore Liam Harrison, who earned $750 for his 2nd-place essay, wrote about the rights of minorities, and the “solemn duty of all members of society to ensure that everyone is heard and understood…. It is everyone’s obligation to fight against social injustices, regardless of who you are. We have forgotten that even if it is not your fight, you can either be an upstander, bystander, or aggressor.”
Though not a minority, he feels “just as responsible as anyone for making sure that all voices are equally appreciated.”
Locally, Liam adds, “embracing the values laid out in the Declaration of Independence today means addressing microaggressions in school where they show up; it means being the person who stands with the new kid in class instead of the one who giggles and points out their differences behind their back. Only once the atmosphere of slight but meaningful separation has dissipated can true democracy, true equality roam free. That is how anyone can play a part in ensuring liberty and justice for all.”
From left: 1st Selectman Kevin Christie, Staples High principal Stafford Thomas, winners Kaila Patel and Liam Harrison, TEAM Westport chair Harold Bailey, essay contest chair Maggie Mudd, Westport Library director Bill Harmer, judge Michelle Rubin.
TEAM WESTPORT TEEN ESSAY CONTEST PROMPT
This year, the United States will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a document which Abraham Lincoln called “a rebuke and a stumbling-block to tyranny and oppression.”
The Declaration of Independence was a product of its time, drafted to rally the colonists to defy Great Britain, support the creation of an autonomous and independent nation and attract allies to its cause.
Nonetheless, its claims have been universalized and imbued with fresh meaning by people here and around the world who have regarded it as an enduring beacon of hope in their own work to seek equal rights, freedom and self-determination.
The famous words in the Declaration’s preamble proclaiming as a self-evident truth that all men are created equal and have inalienable rights endowed by their Creator, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness have been widely employed to assert the inherent dignity and fundamental human rights of each person.
The Declaration of Independence is a foundational document in American political and social life that also inspires TEAM Westport’s mission: to build a community where diversity is welcomed, and inclusion, respect, and belonging are actively extended to all who live, work, attend school, or visit in Westport — regardless of ethnicity, gender identity, race, religion, and sexual orientation.
In 1,000 words or less please comment on the following:
1) The relevance and value of the Declaration of Independence in your everyday life and your duties or obligations, if any, to uphold its principles for all people living within our democratic society;
AND…
2) Opportunities, if any, you believe town leaders (including fellow students, school officials, community members, and TEAM Westport) could create to act differently or additionally to reinforce the principles of the Declaration of Independence.
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kaila patel: “THe declaration of independence: A foundation, not a finish line”
Sophomore year. U.S. History Honors with Mrs. Lynch. The lights in the classroom had been turned off as she read the Declaration of Independence, sentence by sentence. One after the other: “that all men are created equal”, that they “are endowed with certain unalienable rights”, that among those rights are “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. I remember thinking how powerful those words were. How strange and bold it must have felt 250 years ago to challenge an empire and declare that human dignity mattered more than authority. But even as I admired it, another thought crept in quietly: something was missing.
The document was revolutionary for its time, but to me it was also incomplete. When Thomas Jefferson wrote “all men are created equal,” women were excluded. People of color were excluded.
Immigrants and people who looked like me, Korean and Indian, were never imagined as part of that promise. Yet that flaw does not weaken the Declaration; it strengthens it. To me, the Declaration was never the finished product. It was the catalyst.
Kaila Patel
I view the Declaration as a template, one that later generations have been asked to build upon. The founder drafted the foundation, but it has been the responsibility of the American people to build upon it. Over time, the country has continued to add new chapters to the original promise of liberty and freedom, such as the 13th Amendment abolishing slave1y, the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibiting discrimination. Each of these efforts was an attempt to move reality closer to the ideals set forth in the Declaration. Each generation added another layer to the structure Jefferson began.
As a student at Staples High School, I see that same idea eve1y day. Our school gives us the foundation, such as knowledge, skills, and the framework of an idea, but they expect us to build something more with it. A history lesson becomes a topic at a debate. A science concept becomes a research project. A small idea becomes a passion project, a chance to make real change. The Declaration works the same way. It gave America the framework. What we do with it now determines its true meaning.
For me, I want to do my part to reinforce the principles of the Declaration of Independence. As a Korean and Indian girl growing up in Westport Connecticut, a place full of opportunity and strong education. I am reminded eve1y day that this is a luxury. A luxury I can only live because of Jefferson’s ideals, because of women and men across America centuries ago, using the themes of the Declaration of Independence as a template, creating equality so people like me can go to school, claim independence, and live their lives freely. 250 years ago, someone like me would not have been included in that vision of equality. Yet today, I sit in a classroom studying the very document that helped create the system that allowed me to be here. That realization carries weight.
The ideals expressed in the Declaration are part of my everyday life, whether large or small.
Because of that, I feel a responsibility to uphold those principles. The Declaration does not simply grant independence; it challenges each generation to prove it deserves it. If I claim the right to liberty and opportunity, then I must also embody the ideals of freedom and equality. For me, that means working hard, standing confidently, and not shrinking myself to fit in someone else’s view of who they think I should be. It means proving that our independence is not simply something that we were given, but rather that we take through action.
I plan on doing that by giving back to my community. Currently, I am in the process of becoming an EMT, as I believe that independence also means that one should be willing to give back to their community. Being an EMT and helping people in their time of need is one way that I can turn the abstract ideas of the Declaration into action.
However, it is not just an individualistic duty to advance the principles stated in the Declaration.
Our town leaders, schools, and organizations must also help advance the principles stated in the Declaration. If the Declaration of lndependence is a template, then our town, Westport, has the chance to build upon it.
One way to do this is to provide students with more opportunities to be in charge of actual projects that will benefit the community, whether it be in terms of the environment, health, or outreach.
When students are given the opportunity to be proactive, they will realize that democracy isn’t just something that’s written in history books; it’s something they are actively a part of.
Town leaders can also improve upon the idea of the Declaration by encouraging students to become active citizens by providing opportunities for internships, volunteer work, and other such leading roles. When students are given a voice, they begin to realize that the future of democracy lies in their hands.
Now, when I think back to that day in Mrs. Lynch’s classroom, I realize why the Declaration felt so powerful to me. It was never meant to be absolute. It was meant to begin something. 250 years later, that ideal continues. Now it is our turn. As a female, Korean, and Indian student in Westport, I do not simply inherit the Declaration’s promise; I build on it.
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liam harrison: codex officii populi
“… Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed” — The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence, when written, was intended to protect the rights of and establish a better nation for a group of revolutionary citizens. Since its creation, the ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness have become cornerstones of what it means to be an American. The understanding that “all men are created equal” has embedded itself in the hearts of those oppressed or struggling today to experience that equality.
Owing to the increased need for recognition and empowerment of the oppressed, it has become more relevant than ever as a beacon of equity for those without said rights than as simply history for the ones who initially had them-the white, patriarchal society.
Unfortunately, the oaths promised by the Declaration are not given. There are still millions of Americans today living in inhumane conditions, struggling fruitlessly for their entitled liberty. Even in Westport, one of the most well-off communities in the country, I’d need at least ten hands to list the racial, gender, or ethnic microaggressions I’ve seen this year at Staples alone. Whether as a truly hurtful comment or a joke in passing, it doesn’t matter. So what happens when the Declaration is abridged? Can citizens ensure that the promises of our founding fathers are met, or are the voices of the minority weak without a ‘savior’ standing behind them?
Liam Harrison (Photos/Dan Woog)
Minorities are not weak. The powerful speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the tireless efforts of activists like Susan B. Anthony or Elizabeth Cady Stanton are proof. But no matter how hard minority groups may fight for representation in Congress and in communities in general, the rigid gears of oppression will refuse to budge without a representative voice.
The fact is that it is impossible to gain representation in Congress or town hall if you are prohibited from doing so, as many groups were in the past, and as some still are. In that way, it is necessary — even mandatory — that all minorities gain a proper footing in our society today so that they can make systemic changes and defend their own rights.
But what am I getting at here? The efforts of activists have always been the catalyst, the driving force behind justice. Yet an unfortunate but manageable reality of American democracy is the necessity for majority recognition for popular reform. As a community, it is our responsibility to ensure that all groups are not only seen, not only heard, but recognized, and perhaps most importantly, understood.
On the national scale, the failure of the country to embrace the Declaration of Independence can look like not recognizing those in Guam as US citizens, denying Puerto Ricans the right to vote in presidential elections, or any other instance of American’s voices being tossed aside. These struggles have not been resolved yet, and they will only be once those currently in power support and recognize those efforts.
Even in Westport, a town well renowned for its education quality, it’s obvious that there is a large gap in education between students with access to private tutoring versus those without.
Furthermore, embracing the values laid out in the Declaration of Independence today means addressing microaggressions in school where they show up; it means being the person who stands with the new kid in class instead of the one who giggles and points out their differences behind their back. Only once the atmosphere of slight but meaningful separation has dissipated can true democracy, true equality roam free. That is how anyone can play a part in ensuring liberty and justice for all.
I am not a member of any minority, by any and all definitions. My own personal struggles are not connected to the grand fights for equity in the United States. But it is disquieting to me that the current community practice is to leave the activists to fend for themselves, standing on the sidelines and acting as a spectator in the field of equality — for what?
I believe that as people and as a community, we have forgotten that it is the solemn duty of all members of society to ensure that everyone is heard and understood. Quite frankly, it is irrelevant that this is not a struggle that touches me personally. It is everyone’s obligation to fight against social injustices, regardless of who you are. We have forgotten that even if it is not your fight, you can either be an upstander, bystander, or aggressor. To act as a bystander is almost as criminal as being the aggressor, because you are turning away from the injustices at hand; devaluing and silencing the voices of the minorities. I may not be a minority member, it’s true, but I’m just as responsible as anyone for making sure that all voices are equally appreciated.
The purpose that connects all Americans in the caretaking of the Declaration of Independence is the responsibility to ensure that all members of our community are empowered, heard, and understood. Even if you don’t have a grievance, a battle to fight in society, it is your responsibility as a member of our Westport community to make sure that those with struggles and grievances can be equal members of society, and truly benefit from the equality of opportunity that our founding fathers intended.
With this common goal, nobody is excluded. Nobody is downtrodden. Nobody is denied not only the right to speak, but the right to be seen and heard. Once all Westporters unite in this aim, we can act as a beacon of light, hope, and equality in these dark times. It starts with a single choice; the one decision to uplift instead of put down, to open our minds instead of closing our hearts, to bring in instead of push out. From there, the possibilities of a fully united, multicultural, inclusive society are simply endless.
(“06880” reports regularly on Westport’s youth — what they’re thinking, as well as their activities and accomplishments. If you like stories like this, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
My name was on the roster for multiple clubs, my schedule was full, but I wasn’t invested in anything I was doing. In some cases (like mine) it takes a Debate Club meeting to realize that you may be in the wrong room — and you never wanted to be there in the first place.
This is such a fun way to provide engagement during Sunday Circle events and lean into your own interests. There’s even a new leadership program next year that will award college credit to volunteers.
My first time on stage singing in her choir, watching her hands guide us along with such intensity, changed me.
