{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mccormick.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-mccormick-announceswinners-of-america250-pennsylvania-youth-essay-contest/", "SENATOR MCCORMICK ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF AMERICA250 PENNSYLVANIA YOUTH ESSAY CONTEST", "2026-09-21", "2026", "2026-09", "Republican", "Senate", "PA", "David McCormick", "M001243", "www.mccormick.senate.gov", "davemccormick", "https://www.mccormick.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2014 Last week, U.S. Senator Dave McCormick (R-PA) announced the winners of his America250 Pennsylvania Youth Essay Contest, which invited high school students across the Commonwealth to reflect on Pennsylvania\u2019s central role in the American story as the nation marks its 250th anniversary.\n\nThe winners are Brady Sirochman, a 10th grade student at Laurel Highlands High School in Uniontown, and Ronit Luthra, an 11th grade student at Downingtown High School East in Downingtown. The contest drew dozens of submissions from students across Pennsylvania.\n\n\u201cPennsylvania was there at America\u2019s founding and has been there at every turning point since. Brady and Ronit captured that in their essays \u2014 and in the process showed me that the Commonwealth is still producing the kind of people who will lead this country through its next 250 years. They inspire me. Their work belongs in the Congressional Record,\u201d said Senator McCormick.\n\nBoth winning essays were be entered into the Congressional Record, and both students met with Senator McCormick in Washington, D.C. where they were presented with American flags that flew over the Capitol on July 4th. Top runners-up received a signed letter of recognition from the Senator.\n\nEntries were blindly reviewed by a panel made up of Senator McCormick, a Pennsylvania High School History teacher, and members of Senator McCormick\u2019s staff. Senator McCormick chose the winning essays. Submissions were divided into two divisions: Division I: grades 9-10; Division II: grades 11-12.\n\nDivision I Winner \u2014 Brady Sirochman, Laurel Highlands High School, 10th Grade, Uniontown\n\nSirochman wrote on General George C. Marshall, the Uniontown native who organized the Allied victory in World War II and later authored the Marshall Plan. He opens at the intersection where Marshall\u2019s statue sits across from a bronze soldier, and closes on what that pairing represents:\n\n\u201cThrough his military career spanning service from the Philippines to Europe, and later his organization of the armed forces in World War II, we see his life as a personification of America\u2019s willingness to defend liberty aggressively. However, through his career post-war in the fields of diplomacy and government aid, we see his life as a personification of America\u2019s willingness to defend liberty peacefully. George C. Marshall is a unification of these two necessities, as at America\u2019s best, we understand the need for a soldier, as well as the need for a diplomat.\u201d\n\nRead Brady Sirochman\u2019s full essay here.\n\nDivision II Winner \u2014 Ronit Luthra, Downingtown High School East, 11th Grade, Downingtown\n\nLuthra wrote on George Westinghouse, the Pittsburgh inventor and industrialist whose bet on alternating current electrified the modern world \u2014 and who, Luthra argues, deserves a larger place in national memory than he holds:\n\n\u201cHere was a nation that let a self-taught veteran with no advantages rise on the strength of his ideas alone, then rewarded him for backing an immigrant genius whom nearly everyone else had written off. The country asked no permission of any ministry or court before a private citizen remade the daily life of the entire world.\u201d\n\nRead Ronit Luthra\u2019s full essay here.\n\nLearn more about Senator McCormick\u2019s America 250 initiative by clicking here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-09-22T09:42:49Z", "2026-09-22T09:44:35Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.mccormick.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-mccormick-announceswinners-of-america250-pennsylvania-youth-essay-contest/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.475747674703598, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}