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VFW Names Top National Youth Scholarship Winners

Minnesota high school junior takes home first place $30,000 scholarship.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tonight, during the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) first-ever virtual Parade of Winners, the organization proudly presented more than $208,000 in scholarships and awards as it named the national winners of its 2021 Voice of Democracy and Patriot’s Pen youth scholarship competitions.

Due to the pandemic and the cancellation of the VFW’s annual legislative conference, the VFW instead chose to virtually host its awards show, sponsored by Twisted X and Dell , live on Facebook. Together with VFW Auxiliary President Sandi Onstwedder and Twisted X President Prasad Reddy, VFW National Commander Hal Roesch traveled to Rochester, Minnesota, to surprise this year’s national Voice of Democracy winner, Erin Grace Stoeckig, and present her with the $30,000 first place scholarship. Stoeckig was sponsored by Rochester, Minnesota, VFW Post 1215 and its Auxiliary. Watch as she delivered her winning essay on this year’s theme, “Is This the Country the Founders Envisioned?”

“Despite the challenges the pandemic presented, we weren’t going to let it stop us from celebrating this momentous occasion,” said VFW National Commander Hal Roesch. “Tonight the VFW was proud to present our nation’s best and brightest students with more than $208,000 in scholarship and awards, making a grand total of nearly $2.7 million presented at the national, state and local levels of our competitions. Our country is in good hands with future leaders like Ms. Stoeckig.”

In addition to taking home a college scholarship, the VFW surprised all of the Voice of Democracy state winners when it announced they would also receive a new laptop, courtesy of event sponsor Dell.

Also featured during tonight’s virtual awards ceremony was the 2021 Patriot’s Pen first place winner, Wyatt Perkins. Sponsored by VFW Post 4221 in Lake Portland, North Dakota, Perkins was awarded the top Patriot’s Pen award of $5,000 and delivered his winning essay .

The Patriot’s Pen second place winner, Bennett Gordon, sponsored by VFW Auxiliary Post 2730 in Sturgis, South Dakota, will receive a $4,000 award, while third place winner Sydnie Morgan, sponsored by VFW Post 12140 and its Auxiliary in Tualatin, Oregon, will receive a $3,500 award. See the complete list of 2021 Patriot’s Pen national winners .

Learn more about the VFW Voice of Democracy and Patriot’s Pen programs here .

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PATRIOTS PEN

POST CHAIRMAN - DON HOFFMAN

DISTRICT CHAIRMAN - MONTY PARR

DEPARTMENT CHAIRMAN -  DEBBIE McELHANNON  

PATRIOT'S PEN

2021-2022 Theme: "How Can I Be A Good American?"

WHAT IS THE PATRIOT’S PEN?

Conducted nationwide, this VFW-sponsored youth essay competition encourages students to use their minds and knowledge of America’s history and their experience of today’s American society to write essays expressing their views on an annual patriotic theme. We invite you to join the more than 138,000 students who participated last year in this contest. Patriot’s Pen gives 6 th , 7 th , and 8 th  grade students the opportunity to express their opinion on a patriotic theme and improve their writing skills, while they compete for awards and prizes. The awards from all levels of the competition total $1.2 million each year. Each Department (state) first place winner competes at the national level for $55,000 in award money. The first place national winner receives $5,000 and an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., for the winner and a parent or guardian. Each state winner will receive at least $500 at the national level. The National Association of Secondary School Principals has placed this program on their National Advisory List of Contests for participation.

The theme for the Annual VFW Patriot’s Pen Essay is "How Can I Be A Good American?”. The contest is open to all students in the 6th, 7th and 8th grades in public, private, parochial schools, as well as, home-schooled children in the United States and its territories or its possessions and dependents of U.S. military or civilian personnel in overseas schools. Former first place state winners are not eligible to compete again. Foreign exchange students, adults and former winners that placed in the National contest are not eligible to compete. Although U.S. citizenship is not required, students must be lawful U.S. permanent residents or have applied for permanent residence (the application cannot have been denied) and intends to become a U.S. citizen at the earliest opportunity allowed by law. Brochures on the program were mailed to all Post Commanders and Auxiliary Presidents. Schools should be contacted as soon as they open for the current year in order that the teachers can include the contest in the lesson plans. Posts are responsible for giving their area schools Patriot’s Pen pamphlets. You can check the program on the web at  https://www.vfw.org/patriotspen  to see requirements and print the entry forms.  

The essay must be typed in English and be 300-400 words in length. Poetry is not accepted. Word count does not include the title or footnotes.  NO GRAPHICS OR COLOR ALLOWED .  The essay must be a contestant’s original work and a product of the contestant’s own thinking. Contestants will NOT identify themselves within their essay to include, but not limited to, their name, school, city, state, race or national origin. Do not put the students name on the essay; use the entry form as the cover sheet.

VERY IMPORTANT: POST CHAIRMAN SHOULD pursue a notice in local media.

Posts may submit one winning entry to the District for judging.  Districts may submit one winning entry to the Department Chairman.

WINNING ENTRIES ADVANCED FOR JUDGING MUST HAVE THE FOLLOWING:

1. Official entry form and info required. Forms may be printed from online at www.vfw.org

2. Three typed copies of the essay

PATRIOT’S PEN Deadlines: The deadlines for Patriot’s Pen are as follows:

 1.     Midnight, October 31, Entries to the Post*

2.    November 15, Completion of Post judging**

3.    December 10, Completion of District judging**

4.    December 10, January 15, Posts need to submit report on dashboard to acknowledge that they participated in Patriot Pen*

5.    December 13, Email or fax a copy of your  winning essay  to the email or fax above*(Email preferred)

6.    December 15, District  winning entry packet with head shot picture of winner must be received by Department Chairman*

7.    January 10, Completion of Department judging**

8.    January 15, District participation reports to Department Chairman* District chairmen should roll up the post reports into one District report. All District reports must be received by 15 January and  include the phone number and email address of the chairman of that district .*

9.    January 15, Districts must submit a report and approve post reports on dashboard to acknowledge that the posts and District participated in Patriot Pen*

10.  January 15, Department winners to National*

11.  January 31, Department reports to National*

*required deadlines

**suggested deadlines

DO NOT mail District entries and required forms to State Headquarters.  Mail them directly to the State Patriot’s Pen Chairman in above heading.

Note: It’s critical that the Post/District reports be accurate. Ask for guidance if something is unclear.

Points Value in judging is as follows:

             Knowledge of Theme -           30 pts

            Theme Development  -           35 pts

             Clarity of Ideas            -            35 pts

            Possible Total             -           100 pts

First, second, and third place state winners will receive awards presented by State Chairman at the Mid-Winter Conference.

 An entry for judging at the next higher level is a requirement for All-State selection.

Individual awards will not be permitted to be presented by the respective District Chairmen at the Mid-Winter Conference. These awards SHOULD BE PRESENTED AT THE DISTRICT'S AWARDS PROGRAM. Posts and Districts are encouraged to present awards to their respective entries.

OTHER GUIDELINES:

If the  school does not participate ,  or if there are no schools in your area, the Post should contact student(s)and have them participate in a Post contest with the Post winner being entered into the District competition.  Home-schooled children,  your child, grandchild, or a friend's child might just be interested in winning a scholarship. Do not lose the opportunity to have your Post or Auxiliary compete in the Patriot’s Pen contest.

Posts and Auxiliaries should make their awards as large as possible. WE HAVE TO have an incentive for the teachers to push the program in order to get larger student participation. Many Posts and Auxiliaries have an Awards Night at the Post Home for teachers, community leaders and students. Some schools request that it be held at a school function. Whichever is done, make sure the students are rewarded and the community is aware of it. It is suggested that each Post and/or Auxiliary present some sort of citation to participating winners, students, teachers, etc. Citations can be ordered from the National Emblem and Supply Catalog. Department can help you create a citation also.

  All entries, including Home Schools , must be judged at the VFW Post level. The only exception is where schools/classes/youth groups have large numbers of students and wish to conduct their own competition, submitting one winner for each 15 students to the local VFW Post competition. Individual students may submit their entry directly to the local VFW Post within your U.S. state of residence provided they have not competed in a school class competition.

Click here to view the Rules & Eligibility Requirements:  Patriots-Pen-Rules-and-Eligibility.pdf

Click here to download the current year Entry Form:  Patriots-Pen-Entry-Form-Fillable.pdf

Address 140 Angus Dr LULING, LA 70070 Contact Us via Email Phone: 985 785-8379

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Gardiner VFW names ‘Patriot’s Pen’ youth essay winners

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Gardiner Regional Middle School participated in the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ local Patriot’s Pen essay contest last fall, sponsored by the Bagley, Gardiner, Foster VFW Post 9 of Gardiner. From left are Catherine Mansir, ELA Teacher Stephanie Dickson, Riley Fish, Principal John Laperriere and Ella Setchell. Contributed photo

More than 100 students at Gardiner Regional Middle School participated last fall in the The Veterans of Foreign Wars’ Patriot’s Pen, an annual nationwide scholarship program sponsored by the VFW.

Students wrote an essay on the topic, “What is Patriotism to Me?” The contest was sponsored by the Bagley, Gardiner, Foster VFW Post 9 of Gardiner, the ninth-oldest post in the United States. It was chartered in 1918.

Catherine Mansir won first place at both the Post and District 8 (Kennebec County) levels. Campbell Firth placed second, and Ella Setchell and Riley Fish tied for third in the Post level.

The scholarship program has taken place for more than 70 years. Each year more than 138,000 students in grades 6 to 8 enter the VFW’s Patriot’s Pen youth essay contest for a chance to win their share of more than $1.4 million in state and national awards.

The essay contest encourages young minds to examine America’s history, along with their own experiences in modern American society, by drafting a 300- to 400-word essay, expressing their views based on a patriotic theme chosen by the VFW.

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Crystal River, FL (34429)

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First row from left are: Ed Carpenter, post junior vice commander; Doug Tennant, post senior vice commander; Jim Fuller, post commander; Juliene Crowe, auxiliary treasurer; Lane R. Komara; Joel Steele II; Joel Steele, youth and scholarship chairman; and Roger Ingall, auxiliary president. Second row from left are: Larry Haynes, post adjutant; Reno Raines, 8189 Riders president; Renee Tennant, auxiliary junior vice president; Audrey Morris, auxiliary secretary; and JoAnne Peters, auxiliary senior vice president.

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VFW announces Patriot's Pen essay winners

• SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
• Dec 13, 2021
• 1 min to read

VFW Post 8189 announced that Joel Steele II, a seventh grade Crystal River Middle School student, is the first place winner of the post’s 2021-22 Patriot’s Pen youth essay contest.

Steele wrote his winning essay based on this year’s theme, “How can I be a good American?” Lane R. Komara finished a close second and Colton G. Lyles placed third.

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Clayton School District

Patriot's Pen 2021 Winners

Emily Measner

November 11, 2021

Eighth graders wrote an essay in Mr. Frank's ELA class for the VFW sponsored youth essay competition. The competition is known as the "Patriot's Pen". This year's theme was "How Can I Be A Good American?" 8th grade winners of the Patriot's Pen essay contest are: 1st place-Emily Zemke, 2nd place-Michaela Polta, 3rd place-Kaidyn Wynn. These ladies will receive a certificate and monetary award from the Clear Lake VFW. The first place essay will be sent on to the next level of competition. Great work ladies! 

Click here to listen to Emily's winning essay read by her for Veterans Day! 

Sonoma students honored in patriotic essay contest

Five students recognized for writing on the themes ‘How Can I be a Good American?’ and ‘America: Where Do We Go From Here?’

Mason Flynn, a sixth-grader at St. Francis Solano School, was named the VFW Post 1943 first-place winner in the 2021-22 Patriot’s Pen Essay Competition. Clare Cuneo, an eighth-grade student at St. Francis was named the second-place winner. While Lyn Standley, an eighth-grader at Altimira Middle School and Georgia Andres, a sixth-grader at St. Francis, tied for third place.

In the Voice of Democracy competition, the first-place winner is Dulce Soto, a freshman at Sonoma Valley High School.

The Patriot’s Pen is a worldwide-essay competition that encourages young minds to examine America’s history, along with their own experiences in modern American society, by drafting a 300 to 400-word essay, expressing their views on a patriotic-based theme. “How Can I be a Good American?” was this year’s theme. The local first-place winner receives a $200 prize and goes on to the District 16 competition. At the national level, each entrant receives a minimum of $500 and the national first-place winner wins $5,000.

The Voice of Democracy is also a worldwide-essay competition but is an audio essay for high school students wherein the student writes and submits a recorded 3–5 minute essay on an annual patriotic topic. This year’s theme was, “America: Where Do We Go From Here?” The local first-place winner receives a $300 prize and advances to the District 16 competition. At the national level, the first-place winner receives a $30,000 scholarship.

Both competitions are hosted by the Veterans of Foreign War Post 1943.

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PATRIOT'S PEN

The 2020-2021 theme is: 

What is Patriotism to Me?

Each year more than 132,000 students in grades 6-8 enter, the VFW’s Patriot’s Pen youth essay contest. The national first-place winner wins $5,000 and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. The first-place winner from each state competes for national awards totaling $54,500, with each first-place state winner receiving a minimum of $500 at the national level. 

The essay contest encourages young minds to examine America’s history, along with their own experiences in modern American society, by drafting a 300- to 400-word essay, expressing their views based on a patriotic theme chosen by the VFW Commander-in-Chief.

Want to apply? For rules and applications go to www.vfw.org or contact VFW Post 630 at (217) 367-4197.  Deadline for all entries to VFW Post 630 is October 31, 2020

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West Point, NE (68788)

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VFW honors Voice of Democracy, Patriot Pen essay winners

• Jan 19, 2022
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Local winners of the 2021 Patriot’s Pen and Voice of Democracy essay contests were honored at a dinner last Wednesday evening held at the Nielsen Community Center.

Students were joined by family members.

This year’s essay prompt was “America: Where do we go from here?”

There were 148 essays submitted for the Patriot’s Pen contest and 96 essays submitted for the Voice of Democracy contest.

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