Attention students: Win a $5,000 scholarship from new nonprofit

The Freedom to Think Project currently is accepting submissions for its First Amendment Essay Contest.

By Michael Eng
| 11:39 a.m. February 24, 2026

West Orange Times & Observer
Your Town

The Freedom to Think Project, a nonprofit launched by Horizon High teacher William Loggans, is hosting a new essay contest.

High school juniors and seniors are invited to participate in the First Amendment Essay Contest for a chance to win a $5,000 scholarship.

The contest is open to public, private and home-schooled students.

Essays should explore why one or more of the freedoms protected by the First Amendment matter today.

Loggans is the author of “Quiet Courage in the Classroom: One Teacher’s Stand for Freedom and the Future of America’s Youth.”

For more information or to apply, click here.

author

Michael Eng

As a child, Editor and Publisher Michael Eng collected front pages of the Kansas City Star during Operation Desert Storm, so it was a foregone conclusion that he would pursue a career in journalism. He holds a journalism degree from the University of Missouri — Columbia School of Journalism. When he’s not working, you can find him spending time with his wife and three children, or playing drums around town. He’s also a sucker for dad jokes.