The Ellis E. Woodrow Memorial Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 7883 recognized the winners of the 2022-23 Voice of Democracy and Patriot’s Pen essay contests — both of which are VFW’s annual essay contests.
Claudia Stanton, a senior at Westerville South High School, won the Voice of Democracy contest, the VFW’s premier national scholarship program where high school students compete by writing and recording an audio essay on an annual patriotic theme. This year’s theme was “Why is the Veteran important?”
The Patriot’s Pen essay for students in grades 6-8 featured two winners from Westerville:
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First place - Fraser Hartnell, an eighth-grader at Walnut Springs
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Second place - Olivia Koenig, a seventh-grader at Genoa
Other student winners attend Worthington and New Albany schools. The theme for the 2022-23 contest was “My Pledge to Our Veterans.”
The VFW Post 7883 presented awards to students during their meeting Wednesday night. The students’ essays have been forwarded to the Ohio VFW District for their review and possible acknowledgment.
Each year, nearly 64,500 students in grades 9-12 from across the country enter to win their share of more than $2 million in educational scholarships and incentives awarded through the Voices of Democracy program. The national first-place winner will receive a $30,000 scholarship to be paid directly to the recipient’s American university, college or vocational/technical school. Scholarships range from $1,000 to $16,000 with the first-place winner from each VFW Department (state) winning a minimum scholarship of $1,000.
Meanwhile, middle school students who compete in the Patriot's Pen can earn their share of more than $1.4 million in state and national awards. Each first-place state winner receives at least $500 and the national first-place winner wins $5,000.