Is the government taking away our rights? This was the question Congress wanted to answer when it created the National Competition on the Constitution and Bill of Rights in 1987. Congress wanted to make sure that citizens were informed, so they would know when their rights were being violated. This contest was designed for high school students, who study the Constitution and the Bill of Rights

No one doubts that high school football players work hard: They practice most of the summer despite the heat, preparing for a season culminating (they hope) in regional and state contests. Not everyone realizes, however, that marching bands work just as hard and are just as competitive as football teams. Casey Turner, 17, St. Peters, Mo., described a typical marching band contest: "It's just teena

What's your spelling bee experience? Standing in front of the class, sweating profusely, trying to picture how to spell a word you've never heard of? Or asking your teacher to let you skip the competition because you know you'll be out in the first round? Well, there are kids who don't feel anything of the sort. Trevor Leslie, 12, and Jamie Burdeski, 15, spoke with Y-Press about their experiences

"T his whole experience has given me the confidence that what I'm doing is actually good," said Ben Clark. Ben, 15, is a Project XL winner. He received best of show and first place in original music for his song "30 a Day," about gun violence in the United States. "I wrote the whole thing in about a half an hour," said the student from Floyds Knobs. Project XL, a statewide high-school competition