The school district’s winners of the VFW Voice of Democracy essay contest with their certificates on Jan. 21.
The Deptford board of education invited Kevin McElroy of the Westville Grove VFW to its meeting on Jan. 21 to present the school district’s winners of the post’s Voice of Democracy essay contest.
The contest was open to high-school students in grades nine through 12 and tasked them with writing essays centered on the question, “Is America today our forefathers’ vision?” The winners were to receive scholarship money to attend an American college, university or vocational school of their choosing.
The VFW received 46 submissions from Deptford, according to McElroy, with 10 winners chosen. Five of them were at the board meeting.
“I believe that everyone that wrote an essay, here, from Deptford, deserves a citation from the VFW thanking you for your accomplishment and going on your own time and presenting an essay on your behalf,” McElroy told the winners. “Everybody is getting a citation from the VFW from myself and also from my post thanking you with a citation award for doing the essay.”
The contest winners were identified only by their first names during the meeting to avoid mispronounciation of surnames, according to McElroy. They are Joella, Tayla, Anna, Tyler and Algen. Each received a certificate from the VFW.
The first-, second- and third-place winners in the school district each received an additional bonus of checks worth $100 for first, $75 for second and $50 for third. Anna placed second while Tyler placed third. The first-place winner, Christina, was absent from the meeting. The contest is also statewide, with Tyler placing 29th, Anna 19th and Christina seventh.
“The higher you guys go,” said McElroy, “the more money you get. I think the national level for the VOD (Voice of democracy) was $35,000.”
Despite failing to qualify for the national portion of the contest, the winners were congratulated at the meeting.
“Thank you, students for your efforts in that essay contest and for the partnership with the VFW,” noted Superintendent Kevin Kanauss. “It was a great participation rate and we’re very pleased with everybody. Thank you for everything that you guys have done.”
The next board of ed meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 11.
