The WALKS Foundation Essay Contest

This year marked the 63rd anniversary of the WALKS Foundation's Constitutional Essay Contest, hosted at Suffield Academy. Founded in 1962 by two Hartford attorneys, the contest was established to promote a deeper understanding of the U.S. Constitution—its origins, guiding principles, and relevance to contemporary issues.

The competition is open to history students from the five WALKS schools: Westminster, Avon Old Farms, Loomis Chaffee, Kingswood Oxford, and Suffield Academy. Each school’s History Department Chair selects the top two research papers, and their authors advance as finalists. Suffield’s finalists were Vyom Tiwari ’25 and Lucas Li ’27. 

The anonymous papers are read and critiqued by a distinguished judge. This year’s judge was the Honorable Elaine Gordon, who served on the Connecticut Superior Court from 1988 to 2011. Judge Gordon is widely recognized for her work in mediation, having become the first judge in the state to complete formal mediator training. She has also spent over two decades teaching mediation and trial advocacy.

Head of School Charlie Cahn recognized the outstanding work of all participating students and shared the history of the WALKS Foundation, which dates back to 1956. History Department Chair Bryan Brissette shared, “It was a pleasure hosting this year's WALKS Constitutional Essay Contest. Once again, the students represented the participating schools well, as their essays reflected a firm understanding of the prompt. I think the best compliment came from Judge Elaine Gordon, who stated that reading the essays uplifted her faith in both the students and the history curricula being taught at the respective schools.”