MacArthur High School students Lauren Minor and Rainey Schermerhorn were each named semi-finalists in the 2008 Ayn Rand Anthem Essay Contest through the Ayn Rand Institute. Minor and Schermerhorn were two of only 175 semi-finalists named among eighth-, ninth- and tenth-graders throughout the U.S.

To participate, students submitted essays based on Anthem, a novel by Ayn Rand.