Carlin Smock’s exploits are well documented. She’s been named the 2026 Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History Teacher of the Year, she was honored as the Carmi Chamber of Commerce 2025 Young Professional of the Year, and also a recipient of the James Madison Memorial Fellowship. That James Madison award brought with it another exclusive opportunity and Smock dropped in Kiwanis Thursday to share.
The 1776 Presidential Award for Civics. So just a little background on that. Back when President Trump was president the first time in 2016, he put out a lot of initiatives that he wanted to see happen for the 250th anniversary of America, which was in several years. And then when Biden became president, as we know in the last several administrations, he kind of undid all of that. And then when Trump was reelected in 24, he put it all back in. And one of those components of his initiative was this competition. And what he wanted to do was create a scholarship competition for students concerning information about the founding of America, basically.
Thanks to her recognition, Smock was chosen to write questions and be a judge for the regional level of the competition. Around 8,000 students in the country took the initial multiple-choice test. From there, the top 20 from each of five regions moved on to a regional competition. She had the honor to judge a regional competition at the Richard Nixon Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California. The winner of the Presidential 1776 competition, dubbed the Ultimate Civics Showdown, picked up $150,000. The second-place winner, whom advanced out of Smock’s regional, picked up $75,000.
Smock says the experiences she’s chasing are all lessons for her students.
I love doing this stuff because it’s neat opportunities to meet people, but I also like it because it shows you can be from a small town and still go do things. And I think that’s what means the most to me is that showing my students like, hey, I’m from here, I go do stuff, and then I just come back here. And I think that matters because sometimes when you’re in a small town, you can’t see yourself going. And also, people don’t want to do it because they feel like they can’t come back. I want to stay around here. Well, I stay around here. and I get to do really cool things.