Lexy Meyers, an 18-year-old senior at Higley High School, recently won the Daughters of the American Revolution Desert Wells Chapter’s “American History High School Essay contest” for 2023. 

Meyers’ winning essay was titled "Phillis Wheatley: How One Woman’s Poetry can Impact a Revolution" and was entered in the DAR in the fall of 2022. The contest is open to all high school students across the United States.

Meyers wrote about Phillis Wheatley, an African American female poet who wrote anti-slavery poetry during the American Revolution. 

Wheatley’s most impactful work was a poem written in 1776 about General George Washington.  The title of her poem was “His Excellency—George Washington” in which she encouraged him to continue the fight for American independence.

 Meyers' contest entry was selected as the winning essay by the Desert Wells Chapter in December 2022.  She will be awarded a certificate, a bronze medal, and a gift card during the Higley High School Awards Ceremony on May 15.