A Bay Shore Senior High School student will spend six months collaborating with some of the most talented civics students in America—and will spend a week learning in Washington, D.C.—after earning a 2025 Bill of Rights Institute Student Fellowship.  

Naomi Obasa, a resident of Bay Shore, was one of just 20 students from 15 states selected for the Fellowship after a highly competitive process.  

The Bill of Rights Institute is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that develops industry-leading civics and history resources and programs for teachers and students nationwide.   

The Institute’s Student Fellowship program is a six-month educational opportunity that helps high school students develop as leaders and cultivate skills for building civil society.   

Through the Bill of Rights Institute Student Fellowship program, Obasa will take part in enriching educational programming throughout the school year, culminating in a week-long capstone experience in Washington, D.C.  

Previous Student Fellows have met with members of Congress, visited historic and cultural sites, and even published their work in newspapers. Some have gone on to start their own civic engagement initiatives in their local communities.  

“At the Bill of Rights Institute, we teach history and civics and we equip students to live the ideals of a free and just society,” said Institute president and CEO David J. Bobb, Ph.D. “Our Student Fellowship Program enables some of our brightest young people to grow as informed citizens and civic leaders. Through collaborative learning and civil discourse, they develop the skills needed to strengthen their communities and our nation.” 

The 2025 Student Fellows were chosen through a competitive, nationwide process that included nominations by educators and essays exploring topics about leadership and the characteristics of good citizenship.  

This year’s Bill of Rights Institute Student Fellows include: 

• Mansi Bajaj, Metea Valley High School, Aurora, Ill.  
• Angelica Bautista, Veterans Memorial Early College High School, Brownsville, Texas  
• Brianna Blair, Xavier College Preparatory, Phoenix, Ariz. 
• Albert Cai, Barrington High School, Barrington, IL 
• James Constan, Buckingham Browne & Nichols School, Cambridge, Mass.  
• Alessandro De Stefano, Centreville High School, Clifton, Va.  
• Christopher Doherty, International School of Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Thailand          
• Maya Dombroskie, State College Area High School, State College, Pa. 
• Bella Fajardo, Union County Tech, Scotch Plains, N.J.  
• Taylor-Marie Hailstalk, Longwood High School, Middle Island, N.Y.    
• Jonah Horwitz, Dunwoody High School, Dunwoody, Ga.        
• Abigail Huffman, Eastern High School, Ada, Minn. 
• Peter Kennedy, B. Reed Henderson High School, West Chester, Pa.  
• Yu-Cheng Liang, Camas High School, Camas, Wash.                               
• Iago Macknik-Conde, Home School, Brooklyn, N.Y.      
• Naomi Obasa, Bay Shore Senior High School, Bay Shore, N.Y.           
• Aisiri Prasad, Linganore High School, Frederick, Md.   
• Pragnya Vella, Sun Prairie West High School, Sun Prairie, Wisc. 
• Irene Xu, Early College at Guilford, Greensboro, N.C.   
• Jerry Yang, North Hollywood Senior High School, North Hollywood, Calif. 

Rachel Davison Humphries, the Bill of Rights Institute’s senior director of Civic Learning Initiatives and a former classroom teacher, said she is looking forward to working with Obasa, and anticipates a rich educational experience with this year’s Fellows.  

“Our Student Fellows prove each year that we can come from different backgrounds or hold different beliefs, but we can all come together, learn from each other, and engage around key founding principles, like liberty, justice, and equality,” she said.   

The Bill of Rights Institute is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that teaches civics and history through market-leading curricula and educational programs for teachers and students. To learn more about the Bill of Rights Institute, visit www.mybri.org.