VFW Youth Essay Programs

Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States
Lyle Russell Post 1210
275 West 33rd Street, Suite I
Post Box 294
Hastings, Minnesota 55033
Voice of Democracy and Patriot's Pen.
Hastings students have the opportunity to earn some cash prizes and advancement for their writing. For almost seventy (70) years, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) has been sponsoring a National Audio Essay Scholarship Competition which has given almost 3.2 million dollars in awards. Lyle Russell Post 1210 of Hastings will award sixteen hundred fifty dollars ($1650) to area youth that participate and place in the top five submitted from each, at each participating and home-based school. Two hundred ($200) award to the post winner and consolation prizes of one-hundred ($100), seventy five ($75), fifty ($50), and twenty-five ($25) dollars. The post winner will advance to district and department competition to win a share in educational scholarships and incentive along with an invitation to speak at the community's Memorial Day observance.
"This competition provides students in the Hastings Public School District with an opportunity to express themselves in regards to demonstrate democratic ideas and principles speak out on freedom and democracy" says Commander Donald C. Latch. "This program has been popular and successful since its beginning and we're proud to keep offering it to the students in our school district."
This year's Voice of Democracy theme asks students to explain, "My Vision for America." The Voice of Democracy scholarship competition is a three-to five minute audio essay competition open to students in grades 9-12. The national winner will receive a $1,000 through $30,000 T.C. Selman Memorial Scholarship Award, paid directly to the recipient's university, college or vocational/technical school and an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. The Patriot's Pen competition is open to students in grades 6-8 .This year; students are invited to write a 300 - 400 word essay reflecting on the statement, "What Freedom Means to Me." The national winner will receive a $5,000 award. Student participants are asked to submit their entry (along with a completed entry form) to their participating school (after the start of school Sept 8), which in turn will forward them to Lyle Russell VFW Post 1210. A classroom photograph will be requested upon selection of the post winner. The deadline in both contests is November 1. The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is a non-profit veterans' organization composed of combat veterans and eligible military service members from the active, Guard and Reserve Forces. Founded in 1899 and chartered by Congress in 1936, the VFW is the nation's largest organization of combat war veterans and its oldest veterans' organization with nearly 2 million VFW and Auxiliary members in more than 7,000 Post worldwide. The VFW and its Auxiliaries are dedicated to veterans' service, legislative advocacy and military programs throughout the world. Interested teachers and students can obtain additional information at http://www.vfw.org/community/programs or contact the local coordinator Dean W. Markuson, deanrvnvet@aol.com/(651) 438-2208.