The 19th annual Lincoln Essay Competition. Civic engagement, student voices, and a room that had to hold both.

The 19th Annual Vermont 8th Grade Lincoln Essay Competition brought fourteen regional winners and roughly 100 guests to Hildene’s Lincoln Hall on May 18, 2025. That year’s prompt asked Vermont eighth graders to write about political polarization in their communities and how to bridge it — drawing on Lincoln’s first and second inaugural addresses. The award ceremony, in a red, white, and blue Lincoln Hall with American flags throughout, asked the production to match the formality of the afternoon without competing with it.

Three large-format screens carried custom presentation graphics for each regional award category. Governor Phil Scott’s pre-recorded congratulatory message played as part of the welcome. Live presentation content, video playback, and multi-source switching had to land cleanly — formal ceremonies show every seam. Looping content welcomed guests during the reception and held the screens between program segments.

Audio was a six-speaker distributed system — two mains, two center fills, two delays — so first-place winners reading from the stage were heard evenly across the room. Two LED ellipsoidal fixtures on stands gave each student at the podium clear stage light. We were glad to come back for 2026.