Make Your Speech: Students invited to share their vision for America

Young Americans may not be able to vote, but their voices are powerful and they’re already dreaming of the world they’ll someday lead. Their ideas on topics from education to energy could shape our democracy and even influence today’s decision makers. We’re excited by the creative power that can only come from young minds, so, we’re passing them the mic and asking students to tell us the future they want to inhabit.

This year, in honor of the United States’ 250th anniversary, USA TODAY has partnered with SUNN – a non-profit organization publishing the nation’s best student journalism and civic media – to launch a series of three contests calling on middle and high schoolers to share their vision of America. 

Make Your Speech, the second of these non-partisan contests, invites young Americans to step up to the political podium. We’re asking them to imagine that they’ve just been elected as president and they’re delivering their first inaugural address in a 2-3 minute video. We want to be inspired, educated, and motivated by their agenda for the next four years – and called together across political divides.

Our judges include some of today’s most influential creators, thinkers, and civic leaders. Together, we’re not just looking for great performances from young presidents, we’re looking for bold ideas, provocative questions, well-researched solutions, and a unifying vision for the future of our democracy.

This contest is not just an opportunity for the rising generation, but also for adults to learn from the dreams, worries, and priorities of young voices that often go unheard. After all, it’s the world they build that will sustain hope and shape the future of our democracy.

Quick Contest Facts: 

• Our contest portal is open for submissions starting September 10, 2026 closes at midnight Pacific time on October 30, 2026. 
• To enter, students or a parent/guardian submit a 2-3 minute video of the student delivering an inaugural presidential address and the written text of the speech via the submissions portal.  
• Entrants must be in grades 5-12; a parent/guardian must submit for students aged 12 and younger. 
• Entries will be judged in two categories, middle school and high school.
  • 1st place winners will receive $1,000
  • 2nd place winners: $750
  • 3rd place: $500.

Inaugural speeches: a unifying message

Presidential speeches are milestones in political history. We study them, quote them, and sometimes even make fun of them. When they directly talk to the American public, presidents educate us about national events, console us after tragedies, and spur us to action. Their words can be like those of your best teachers: they lift us up, they push us forward, they remind us who we are and who we can become.

Presidential inaugural speeches are nearly as old as the USA itself: George Washington gave the nation’s first inaugural address after being sworn in, and every president since has done the same. It’s an important moment. They’ve spent months connecting to their bases as a candidate; this speech is their moment to speak to everyone – including those who voted against them – as their leader. 

President Donald Trump closed his first inaugural address, which came after a divisive campaign season, by reminding Americans of their commonalities. He said, “whether a child is born in the urban sprawl of Detroit or the windswept plains of Nebraska, they look up at the same night sky, they fill their heart with the same dreams.” 

George H.W. Bush spoke of a shared future at his 1989 inauguration, saying "I do not mistrust the future. I do not fear what is ahead. For our problems are large, but our heart is larger. Our challenges are great, but our will is greater." 

These reminders of a collective identity and commitment to America continue to be relevant today. After all, a great political speech meets the moment and also stands the test of time.  

While inaugural speeches are directed toward all, their words can have a personal effect. 

In 1961, John Kennedy said in his inaugural address: “And so, my fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country.” 

Kennedy’s words hit 19-year-old Donna Shalala “like a splash of water” and changed the course of her life. The next year, Donna joined the Peace Corps. She became a professor. She served as US Secretary of Health and Human Services and as a congressperson. Later, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 

Presidents have used this opportunity to address young people directly. 

Richard Nixon stated: “We see hope in the youth of today. I know America's youth. I believe in them. I can be proud that they are better educated, more committed, more passionately driven by conscience than any generation in our history.” 

Although he said this in 1969, it feels as relevant now for Gen Z and Gen Alpha as it did then for Baby Boomers. 

In 2009, Obama spoke of the next generation carrying “forward that precious gift, that noble idea… that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.” 

We’re excited to see how young Americans, guided by educators, bring that noble idea to life in their speeches.

Meet our judges

Cassie Donegan

Cassie Donegan is an actress, singer, and Miss America 2026. In this role, she works as an advocate for arts education, connecting with students, teachers, families, and policy makers to ensure all schools have the funding for arts programming. She has also founded four arts education scholarships to connect young people with opportunities that may otherwise be out of their reach.

Tripp Rebrovick, PhD

Tripp Rebrovick is Harvard College’s Coach of Debate and Director of the Harvard Debate Council. A former high school national debate champion, he has coached Harvard through wins at major college debate tournaments. Rebrovick also teaches workshops around the world, believing that debate empowers young people to think critically and make informed decisions. 

Jason Reynolds 

Jason Reynolds does “not write boring books,” instead writing novels and poetry that feature young people navigating everything from sports and crushes to racial and economic inequities. He was the 2020-2022 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, a Newbery Award Honoree, a two-time National Book Award finalist, and a 2024 MacArthur Fellow, among others. 

Condeleeza Rice, PhD

Condoleezza Rice is a distinguished diplomat, scholar, and Director of Stanford University's Hoover Institution. She served as the 66th Secretary of State from 2005 to 2009, and as National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005, becoming the first Black woman to hold either position. Secretary Rice is the former Provost of Stanford University and the author of several books, including No Higher Honor and Extraordinary, Ordinary People, and has spent decades advocating for students. She co-founded the Center for a New Generation, an after-school academic enrichment program that now has chapters throughout the U.S., from California to Georgia. A passionate classical pianist and an avid football fan, Secretary Rice has received many honors for her civic leadership and contributions to public service, education, and international affairs.

Angie Thomas

Angie Thomas is a writer and activist who began writing the book that became her first bestselling novel, The Hate U Give, as a high school senior. Her work has been adapted to film and continues to be taught in schools across the country. She advocates for diverse, representative books in school libraries, and writes as a form of activism. 

Baratunde Thurston

Baratunde Thurston is a writer, host, and speaker exploring how we live well with technology, with each other, and with the planet. He has spent decades creating with and criticizing technology, from The Onion to The Daily Show to Life With Machines, his public interest media company, which won a 2026 People's Voice Webby for Best Creative Use of AI and Tech. His work helps us co-create a future that doesn't suck, integrating humanity, humor, and a deep sense of place into the conversation about where we are taking technology, and who gets to decide.

Baratunde hosts Life With Machines, co-created and hosts the civic podcast How To Citizen, hosted and executive produced the PBS series America Outdoors, and wrote the New York Times bestseller How to Be Black. He wrote the foreword to American Indigenous Democracy: A Call for Interdependence. He keynotes for and advises organizations that want to think hard about technology and the future without losing sight of the people and the planet it's meant to serve.

His worldview is grounded in the truth of our interdependence, which has made him one of the few voices in technology also trusted in Indigenous communities, cited by faith leaders, built into civic curricula, and formally recognized for making people laugh.