Meet the 2026 I AM PHL Contest Winners Performing at the Wawa Welcome America’s Philly Fair 250
PhillyGoes2College Announces 2026 I AM PHL Winners to Be Featured at Wawa Welcome America
PhillyGoes2College is proud to announce the winners of the 2026 I AM PHL Contest—a citywide celebration of student creativity, talent, and vision. Powered by The Philadelphia Education Fund and hosted by PhillyGoes2College, this year’s contest once again invited Philadelphia students to put their city, their story, and their future on the page, the canvas, and the mic.
This year’s contest invited Philadelphia students in grades 9–12 to submit original work in one of three artistic categories: My Music, My Voice, and My Art, responding to prompts about their future, college goals, and Philly pride.
Returning this year, the My Investment Bonus Category challenged students to imagine how they would invest an additional $1,000 to support their personal, artistic, or educational goals.
Judges spent over a week reviewing an incredibly competitive set of submissions from students at 12 schools across the city—from Northeast Philly to South Philly to Germantown and beyond. After tie-breakers and close deliberation, winners were selected based on creativity, clarity, and impact.
🎉 Meet the 2026 I AM PHL Winners
Check out the winning submissions below and don’t miss the I AM PHL winners’ presentation and performances live at the 2026 Wawa Welcome America Festival — Philly Fair 250 on Saturday, June 20th from 2:30–3:15pm at the Please Touch Museum.
My Art & My Investment Bonus: Corinne Xu
Hi, my name is Corinne Xu and I am a rising senior at JR Masterman High School. I heard about this contest from my photography teacher at school, and decided to have some fun with my submission! I found that the I AM PHL contest was a great opportunity to share one of my passions and a little bit of Philadelphia’s history, and was able to create this multifaceted piece to do all of that. I hope to continue studying intersections between history and all forms of art as I continue on with my higher education and career.
Corinne’s Submission:
Click to enlarge
About my submission:
Before the Academy of Music existed, Philadelphia opera lovers had no permanent home. They raised the money, sold stocks, held a design competition, and built one themselves, because they believed this city deserved it. The Academy opened in 1857 and has been in continuous use ever since. Tchaikovsky performed there. So did Maria Callas, Enrico Caruso, and Luciano Pavarotti. What hasn’t changed is the audience. In every era, there have been Philadelphians who showed up. This photograph was taken in the hallway of the Academy of Music on January 14, 2026, nearly 169 years after its doors first opened. Through a double exposure, the crowded grand lobby bleeds into the frame behind us: two images collapsed into one, the way the past and present always seem to blend together in this city.
About the Bonus: As our My Investment Bonus winner, Corinne wrote about putting the award toward her music education and her college future, drawing a straight line from the private donors who built the Academy of Music to the idea of investing in herself now. In her words, a thousand dollars isn’t a fortune, but it’s enough to be intentional with. Both halves of her plan, she said, are really the same investment: in showing up more prepared for whatever comes next.
My Music: Charles James
My name is Charles James, I’m a graduate from Franklin Learning Center and the reason I entered the I AM PHL competition was because I want to become an artist in this world. Yet the first step into that task is networking and getting my name everywhere, so that’s what I did. I believe that everyone in the world has multiple chances to succeed and thrive—you just need to reach your hand out. This fall, Charles heads to Temple University.
Charles’s Submission:
About my submission: Charles’s piece traces the musical journey his family and teachers gave him, and his hope to give others around the world that same spark music gave him—simply because of his city and the people who shaped him into the artist he is today. When he had no goals or aspirations, he had music to keep him level-headed and composed, and now he wants to give back to the people who helped him get there.
My Voice: Qixuan Wang
I am Qixuan Wang, a rising senior at JR Masterman High School. My photography teacher shares contest opportunities for her students, and that’s how I found I AM PHL. I almost didn’t apply, but I wanted to prove that confidence doesn’t require a big voice: it can be shown through writing. My writing draws from my culture and the city that raised me. I’ve learned that honesty isn’t broken. It’s just ready to be seen.
Qixuan’s Submission:
About my submission: Qixuan’s piece begins at the Liberty Bell—which she first thought was broken, before realizing it was simply honest. From there she writes about learning that vulnerability isn’t weakness but a choice about whom to trust, and about a cracked terracotta army soldier she pulled from a blindbox at Little Seven House in Chinatown: calm, proud, and a little cracked, just like her. Her shelf of figurines became, in her words, her army of honesty. She’s writing her way toward Penn and toward letting people see her without needing to explain.
Philadelphia was never afraid of showing its faults. When I first saw the Liberty Bell, I thought it was broken. I was wrong. It’s honest.
I used to hide. I laughed at jokes that made no sense to me. I avoided crossing the street, so cars won’t need to wait. I felt comfortable alone. But I learned from Philadelphia that vulnerability is not about being weak. It’s about the choice of whom to trust.
This is what I discovered in a blindbox at Little Seven House in Chinatown: a terracotta army soldier. Cracked. Calm. Proud. Like me. And so my shelf of Hirono figurines is my army of honesty.
I aspire to be in Penn. I want to stop collecting things and start forming connections. While becoming myself, I am willing to let others look at my figurines. Without even knowing what they mean.
— Qixuan Wang, My Voice Winner
🏆 Each Winner Receives:
🎓 $1,000 cash award per category
💡 An additional $1,000 for the My Investment Bonus winner
🎤 Performance slot at the 2026 Wawa Welcome America Festival
🎟️ Priority tickets to the July 4th Celebration
📸 Professional headshots courtesy of The Grind House, LLC
🎶 My Music winner: the opportunity to have their music featured on the 250th Project by Kristal Oliver—Grammy and Emmy nominated, platinum-selling singer-songwriter, Master Teacher, and founder of Write With Tyte.
✨ Exclusive mentorship sessions generously provided by:
🎨 Jane Golden (My Art) – Artist and Executive Director of Mural Arts Philadelphia
📝 Trapeta Mayson (My Voice) – Former Philadelphia Poet Laureate (2020–2021) and founder of Healing Verse Philly Poetry Line
🎶 Kristal Oliver (My Music) – Grammy and Emmy nominated, platinum-selling songwriter and Master Teacher
📅 Join Us on June 20th!
The 2026 I AM PHL winners will share their submissions and perform live at the 2026 Wawa Welcome America Festival — Philly Fair 250 on Saturday, June 20th from 2:30–3:15pm at the Please Touch Museum. Come celebrate their work and witness the next generation of Philly’s creative leaders.
🙏 Special Thanks to Our Judges
A heartfelt thank-you to the incredible creatives, educators, and professionals who served as judges this year. Your time, care, and expertise were instrumental in making this one of our most meaningful and competitive contests to date.
🤝 Thank You to Our Partners and Sponsors
The 2026 I AM PHL Contest was made possible thanks to the generous support of:
Powered by: The Philadelphia Education Fund
Hosted by: PhillyGoes2College
In-Kind Partner: Wawa Welcome America
Sponsors:
Campus250 (Campus Philly & PHENND) • Creative Philadelphia (Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture) • Thomas Jefferson University (Student Summit In-Kind Sponsor) • The Grind House, LLC • Write w/ Tyte
Thank you for investing in Philly’s youth and helping them shine on one of the city’s biggest stages.
