Oxford High students named top Mississippi finalists in civics competition

Oxford High School landed two of Mississippi’s top four finalists in the inaugural Presidential 1776 Award for Civics, a rare double showing that sends Macon Harrell and Lily Kate Coughlin into a regional semifinal in Atlanta. For Oxford School District, the result puts civic literacy in the spotlight and gives Lafayette County a pair of students competing on a stage built around American history, government and public service.

Harrell and Coughlin were scheduled to travel May 2 to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Museum in Atlanta for the Region 2 semifinal, where they would face other state finalists from a wide field that includes Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Oxford High’s place among the top Mississippi finishers makes the achievement especially notable, since only four students in the state advanced to that round.

The Presidential 1776 Award is a three-stage national scholarship competition for high school students launched by the U.S. Department of Education in December 2025 as part of America’s 250th birthday commemoration. Round One ran during the week of Feb. 22-28, 2026, using an online proctored exam called The Impossible Civics Test. The competition’s study materials focus on the American founding, including the Founders, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitutional Convention and the Revolutionary War.

Official rules say the contest is open to students in grades 9 through 12, ages 14 to 19, in the 50 states, Washington, D.C., and U.S. territories, as well as U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals and lawful permanent residents. The department said regional finalists were to be announced by March 30, and the five regional semifinals were set for May 2 at presidential library sites. National finalists were slated to meet in Washington, D.C., in June.

The scholarship stakes are substantial. Department materials put the total prize pool at $250,000, with scholarships up to $150,000 for top winners. The top three finishers are scheduled to take part in a July 4, 2026 A250 semiquincentennial celebration. Regional contestants must cover their own travel and lodging, while national finalists will have those costs covered.

For Oxford High, the recognition says more than one contest result. It shows two local students from Lafayette County mastered a competition designed to measure whether young people understand how civic institutions work, and it places the school among the few in Mississippi sending multiple finalists into a national scholarship race with real financial and academic consequences.