Mundelein High School junior, Jocie Bank, has been named a semifinalist in the Ayn Rand Anthem Essay Contest that she participated in last spring in her Honors English 2 course. Her teacher, Beth Willis, explained that “essays were judged on whether the student was able to argue for and justify his or her view.” She said that judges looked for writing that is clear, articulate and logically organized.

“Winning essays needed to demonstrate an outstanding grasp of the philosophic meaning of Anthem by Ayn Rand. Jocie’s essay placed in the top two percent of entries in the contest,” Willis said.

The Ayn Rand Institute provides free copies of Rand’s novels, along with guides for teaching them, to schools in the United States and Canada.

Ayn Rand [1905-1982] was a novelist and philosopher. She is best known for her novels Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, and for the revolutionary philosophy she originated called Objectivism.