From 6th Grade to 1st Place: Andrew Is America’s Favorite Student

There are a lot of ways to become a favorite.

You can be the person everyone calls when they need advice. The friend who always knows where to get the best tacos. Or, if you’re Andrew, you can be a straight-A sixth grader, spelling bee champion, trumpet player, and aspiring chemical engineer—and somehow add America’s Favorite Student to the list.

A Sixth Grader With a Lot Going On

Andrew is the kind of student who seems to have discovered the secret to fitting 30 hours into a day.

He’s a straight-A student and spelling bee champion, plays the trumpet, and already has his sights set on a future in chemical engineering. He’s also known for being someone his classmates and teachers can count on—because apparently being academically accomplished wasn’t enough.

Now, he can officially say he’s America’s favorite, too.

As the 2026 winner, Andrew will receive $20,000, an appearance in Reader’s Digest, an exclusive meet-and-greet with Bill Nye the Science Guy during a private tour of The Planetary Society’s headquarters in Pasadena, California.

For someone interested in STEM, getting a behind-the-scenes look at an organization dedicated to advancing space science and exploration is a pretty stellar prize.

We have a feeling Andrew’s next science project just got a lot more interesting.

From the Spelling Bee to the Space Race

What makes Andrew’s win especially fun is that his story is really just getting started.

He’s already showing the kind of curiosity and determination that can take a student far beyond the classroom. Whether he ultimately ends up in a laboratory, working on the next big breakthrough in chemical engineering, or somewhere none of us have thought of yet, he’s clearly not afraid to dream big.

And now he has a pretty incredible experience to add to the journey. A private visit to The Planetary Society headquarters will give Andrew the chance to see the work happening behind some of the world’s most ambitious efforts in space science and exploration.

Not bad for a summer field trip.

The Galactic Win

And through the 2026 America’s Favorite Student competition, there is another galactic win that is out of this world. Colossal raised $2.4 million in support of DTCare’s charity beneficiary The Planetary Society.

Across both America’s Favorite Teacher and America’s Favorite Student competitions, Colossal raised a combined $4.8 million to support The Planetary Society’s work in education, advocacy, and space exploration.

It’s a fitting destination for a competition celebrating students. After all, curiosity is usually where big things begin.

Sometimes it starts with a spelling word.

Sometimes it starts with a science question.

And sometimes, apparently, it starts with a sixth grader from Tennessee who wants to become a chemical engineer.

So, What’s Next for America’s Favorite Student?

For now, Andrew has a title to enjoy, a $20,000 prize, a trumpet to keep playing, and a pretty unforgettable trip to Pasadena ahead of him.

After that?

There’s a whole lot of future left to figure out. But if his track record so far is any indication, we’re guessing he’ll have a few ideas.

Congratulations, Andrew—the nation’s favorite student has officially entered seventh grade.