Two Mundelein High School freshmen earned cash prizes of $250 each as winners in the contest sponsored by the Adlai Stevenson Center on Democracy. The essay was an opinion piece, 1,000 words or less about anything that affects public policy.

Sam Cartwright won first place with his essay titled “Asymmetrical Polarization:  How Something Voters Have Never Heard of Has been Shaping Public Policy for Decades. Freshman Kajal Patel took third place with her essay “Why The Constitution Must Change And Why If It Did It Would Not Matter.”

“I actually gave them the handout with the information (about the contest),” said Susan Theotokatos who teaches the Advanced Placement Human Geography course that the two students are enrolled in.

“I’m not surprised as to their win because both students are so talented in their writing and in their thoughts on political issues,” she said.