Local Voice of Democracy and Patriot’s Pen Essay Contests Open

Milbank’s VFW and VFW Auxiliary Post #3486 are sponsoring the 2021-2022 Voice of Democracy and Patriot’s Pen scholarship contests.
Local winners continue on to the regional contests and regional winners compete in the state contests. State winners then vie for the scholarships at the national level. Erin Stoeckig, a high school junior from Mayo High School in Rochester, Minnesota, was named the national 2020-2021 Voice of Democracy first-place winner. Erin was awarded a $30,000 college scholarship for her speech on the theme: Is This the Country the Founders Envisioned? 

Local students are encouraged to enter one of the two essay divisions:   The Voice of Democracy is open to students in grades 9-12 who are enrolled in public, private, parochial, or homeschool study programs in the United States. The 2021-2022 theme is: America: Where Do We Go From Here? Students enter by writing an essay on the theme and recording it (3-5 minutes) on a flash drive.  

The Patriot’s Pen Essay provides sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade students the opportunity to express their opinions on a patriotic theme. This year’s theme is: How Can I Be a Good American? All students enrolled in public, private, parochial, or homeschool study programs are eligible to enter.  

Rhonda Preller, senior vice president of Post #3486 VFW Auxiliary and scholarship representative, reminds families that entries need to be submitted before November 1, 2021. Submissions can be given to Mrs. Natasha Karels, the high school contact for the Voice of Democracy, or Mr. Greg Cantine, the middle school contact for the Patriot’s Pen. 

Completed submissions can also be emailed to:  rrprel@aol.com or mailed or dropped off at 605 Fairview Street in Milbank.   Rules and entry forms can be found at the vfw.org website under the Community-Youth section. Contact persons also have entry forms with the rules attached.