VFW Commander Jack Gauthier and Quartermaster Carl Silva sat together on Friday at the Alpine post, anticipating how many local students would enter the annual Voice of Democracy and Patriot’s Pen scholarship contests this year given that children will begin the school year with distance learning in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
“We really want to get this out to the community, especially with schools closed right now. Besides being a great project, we love seeing the kids’ reactions to the writing prompts and reading their viewpoints,” Gauthier said.
Although details differ between the Patriot’s Pen contest designed for middle schoolers and the Voice of Democracy contest for high school students, the structure is similar: entries are submitted to a local VFW post with district winners advancing to state level, then culminate in a national competition.
The Patriot’s Pen contest is open to students from grades 6-8 and, according to the District 1 website, gives middle schoolers the opportunity to express their opinions in a 300 to 400 word essay.
The theme this year is “What Is Patriotism to Me?”
“Oh, it’s such a great topic for this year and some of those kids have some really interesting observations, you know: out of the mouths of babes,” Silva said, chuckling.
Each first place Patriot’s Pen state winner receives a minimum of $500 at the national level; the national first place winner wins $5,000 an an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C.
Similarly, the Voice of Democracy audio-essay contest also operates on a tiered competition but it is designed for high-schoolers. This year the theme is “Is This the Country the Founders Envisioned?”
“Under current circumstances, with many kids homebound it’s food for thought while also being a good project to work on. Really, it is thought provoking just to have the conversation about these topics,” Silva said.
Gauthier agreed and said both contests are a tool for teaching children about history and getting them to think about the state of our country.
The first place Voice of Democracy winner from each state wins a minimum scholarship of $1,000 and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C.
Ultimately, the national first place Voice of Democracy winner receives a $30,000 scholarship paid directly to the recipient’s chosen university, college or vocational/technical school.
Rules and entry forms for both competitions can be found at vfw.org/community/youth-and-education/youth-scholarships and final entries are due to the Alpine VFW post by midnight, Oct. 31.
Entries can be emailed to vfw9578alpine@gmail.com or dropped off at the VFW post located at 844 Tavern Road. Questions can be directed to Jack Gauthier at (619) 445-6040.
