Zieman, Desautels earn essay contest honors

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The Alexandria VFW and Women’s Auxiliary announce that Kallie Zieman, a 9th grader at Discovery Middle School (DMS) in Alexandria, earned first place honors in the Voice of Democracy competition. Katie Desautels, a 7th grader at DMS, earned first place in the Patriot’s Pen challenge.

The Voice of Democracy is a national audio essay competition conducted annually during the fall school term. The competition is designed to foster patriotism and to give high school students the opportunity to voice their opinion and address their responsibility to their country.

Zeiman’s audio essay on the topic, “Does my generation have a role in America’s future?” earned her the first place cash and post award from the Alexandria VFW. Her entry also won third place at the District VFW level of competition.

State winners receive an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. and the chance to compete for national scholarships. The first place national winner receives a $30,000 scholarship.

The Patriot’s Pen essay challenge is for students in grades 6 to 8 in which participants write a 300 to 400-word essay addressing the yearly theme. This year’s theme is, “Does patritiotism still matter?”

Desautels won a cash award for her first place essay. First place national winner receives a $10,000 savings bond.

Additional honorees cited by the Alexandria VFW Post include the following:

• Voice of Democracy – Annie Desautels, 9th grade, DMS, 2nd place.

• Patriot’s Pen – Graham Hegstad, 7th grade, DMS, 2nd place; Bethany Hasz, 7th grade, DMS, 3rd place. Honorable mention went to Emily Prestby, 7th grade, DMS; Cheyenne Carlson, 6th grade, Woodland Elementary School; and Roxanna Kading, 7th grade, DMS.

The themes for the upcoming 2011 contest have been announced. The Voice of Democracy theme is, “Is there pride in serving our military?” The Patriot’s Pen theme is, “Are you proud of your country.

Tags: life, school, vfw