VFW ANNOUNCES 2012-2013 NATIONAL VOICE OF DEMOCRACY AND PATRIOT’S PEN ESSAY CONTEST WINNERS
See VFW's national annual essay contest winners
March 04, 2013
The winners of the VFW and Ladies Auxiliary sponsored Voice
of Democracy audio-essay competition and the Patriot’s Pen essay competition
were announced late yesterday afternoon during the 2013 VFW Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C.
The Voice of Democracy program celebrated its 66th
year with this year’s theme, “Is Our
Constitution Still Relevant?” The first-place winner, Danielle Hayes, sponsored by VFW Post 1205 and Ladies
Auxiliary in San Francisco, Calif.,
received an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., where she was presented
with the T.C. Selman Memorial Scholarship Award in the amount of $30,000. The
second-place winner, Haley DeAndrea,
sponsored by VFW Post 3182 and Ladies Auxiliary
in North Bend, Ore., received the $16,000
Charles Kuralt Memorial Scholarship Award. The third-place winner, Sarah Hartland, sponsored by VFW Post 4042 and Ladies
Auxiliary in Bigfork, Mont.,
received the $10,000 VFW Scholarship Award. All other state winners received at
least a $1,000 college scholarship. Nearly 40,000 students participated in this
year’s competition.
Read
Danielle Hayes’ award-winning essay
Watch Danielle
deliver her essay on-demand at vfw.org
See
list of all winners
The Patriot's Pen program is
designed to foster patriotism by allowing students the opportunity to express
their opinions on democracy based on an annual theme, this year’s being,
“What
I Would Tell America’s Founding Fathers.”
The first-place winner, Mariessa McKenna,
sponsored by VFW Post 8065 and Ladies Auxiliary in Bowie, Md., received an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C.,
where she received a $5,000 award. The second-place winner, Kirstee
Dunlap, sponsored by VFW Post 9170 and Ladies
Auxiliary out of Beeville, Texas, will receive a $4,000
award. The third-place winner, Celia Dekeyser,
sponsored by VFW Post 2245 in Grayslake, Ill.,
will receive a $3,500 award. A total of 104,000
students participated in this year’s competition.
Read
Mariessa McKenna’s award-winning essay
Watch Mariessa deliver her
essay on-demand at vfw.org
See
list of all winners
BACK TO NEWS >