2024 Charlotte Swett Walter Democracy Challenge

The Charlotte Swett Walter (CSW) Glenbard Democracy Challenge took place in the spring of 2024 at Glenbard West and South. A creative competition, the challenge asked students to portray the theme “Gen Z Democracy: Shaping the Future” through music, dance, creative writing, art, video, etc. A $500 cash prize was awarded to a student at both GBW and GBS and the winners presented their entry at the LWVGE Annual Meeting in April. The challenge is named for long-time League member Charlotte Swett Walter whose estate bequeathed funds for use in our educational endeavors. See profile at the bottom of the page for more information on Charlotte and her contributions to defending democracy.

2024 Democracy Challenge winners

2024 Democracy Challenge Rules

Theme: Gen Z Democracy: Shaping the Future

• Categories 

• Essay. No more than 2500 words, typewritten, double spaced. Attach to application in pdf format. 

• Creative Writing (poem, short play, short story, etc.) No more than 2500 words, typewritten, double-spaced. Attached to application as a pdf.

• Music (original composition/performance) Applicant must be composer but other musicians can play on recording.  Please attach MP3 and pdf of score. 

• Dance. Solo or Group dance number. Applicant must be the choreographer.  If non-i7original music is used, it must be cited. MP4 or MOV file format.

• Photography. Attached as a jpg, pdf and png file in application. Single image only.  Images should have a resolution of 300 dpi. 

• Visual Art (poster, sculpture, painting, drawing, etc). The League cannot accept any physical artwork submission, so piece must be submitted as a digital file. If the work is multi-media or 3D (e.g a sculpture), a video of the piece can be submitted (MP4 or MOV). Other work should be submitted as a pdf, jpg or png. 

• Film/Video.(Documentary, fiction, animation, etc.) Work such as filming, editing, etc. (beyond acting) must be done by the applicant. Work should be submitted in MP4 or MOV format.   

• Eligibility:  The applicant must be a student over the age of 13 and in good standing at Glenbard South or Glenbard West High Schools and in Grade 10-12.  Grades will not be used as a determinant.

•  All submissions must be the work of the applicant.  There are no group awards. One entry per category per person.

• One winner will be chosen from each school:  one from Glenbard South and one from Glenbard West.

• Entries will be judged by the Charlotte Swett Walter Committee of the League of Women Voters of Glen Ellyn based on creativity, originality and execution. The winning submissions will be the work that the judges believe best captures the theme: “Gen Z Democracy: Shaping the Future.”

• While the fair use of copyrighted material is permitted, the unauthorized infringement of copyrighted material is prohibited.  If non-original music is used for dance or film, it must be cited.

• The work submitted cannot be and cannot include material that is obscene, pornographic, sexually explicit, violent and/or promotes violence, hatred or discrimination.

• The student remains the owner of the work submitted.  Applicants provide consent to the League of Women Voters of Glen Ellyn to publish the work submitted in service of the League organization goals and for use of publicity of this contest.

• Submission of work should be via entry form. If a digital file exceeds 250 MB, entry can be submitted on an external hard drive. Please contact info@lwvge.org if you have a question.

• The Winner from Glenbard South and the winner from Glenbard West will be invited to the LWVGE Annual Meeting on April 25, 2024 at the Glen Oaks Country Club to be presented the award and showcase work as appropriate.

• Prize awarded to winners will be a check for $500

2023 Democracy Challenge Winners

Theme: “Defending Democracy”

(While both 2023 winners were visual arts, please note that this contest encourages and accepts all artistic categories!)

Meet the winners of the 2023 Charlotte Swett Walter Democracy Challenge! Emily Puchalski for "Democracy: Fragile like Glass" (photography on left) and Angie Abraham for "Everyone Has a Voice" (digital art on right). Congratulations to you both! And a big thank you to all contestants!

See their work below.

In Honor of Charlotte Swett Walter….

About Charlotte Swett Walter and her Legacy Gift.

The League of Women Voters of Glen Ellyn was thrilled to receive a notice of a bequest from the estate of long-time League member Charlotte Swett Walter. Charlotte was born in 1921, just as women won the right to vote. Charlotte was a true activist in Glen Ellyn, her home of 65 years where she raised 5 children. Widowed early, Charlotte managed as a single parent while getting her MBA at the University Of Chicago. She remarried, created a blended family and continued living in Glen Ellyn.

League leadership recently had a chance to talk to Charlotte’s daughter Valerie. She recalled that her mother was a journalist, and remembers her writing pamphlets for the village and calling politicians and other League members about issues of the day. Valerie credits her ability to negotiate as a lawyer in Boston to those days as a child listening to her mother on the phone involved in local politics! Charlotte was also an election judge, voter registrar and was active in the Methodist church, the GE Food Pantry and the Historical Society. One of her passions was encouraging young people to register and vote. On a recent birthday, she was asked what advice she would like to bestow. She answered “Always Vote!” We could not agree more!