BRICK – The winners of two student essay contests were announced at a recent VFW Youth Awards Program held at the Post. Out of 250 students from Brick Township high schools and middle schools that participated, only a few select local students were the winners, receiving awards and cash prizes totaling $4,200.
The Voice of Democracy is an audio essay contest for high school students. The theme for this contest was “American History: Our Hope for the Future.” Winners of this contest came from both Brick Township High School and Brick memorial High School.
From Brick Township HS, winners were Rae Ann Richard in First Place, Francisco Mesa in Second Place, and Lyndsey Salerno in Third Place. From Brick Memorial it was Andrew P. Bucci in First, Danielle E. Dyson in Second, and Erin E. White in Third.
The other essay contest, for younger students in grades 6-8, is the Patriot’s Pen. The theme for this was “America’s Gift to my Generation.”
The winners from Veterans Memorial MS were Mia E. Caruso in First, Maya T. Shornock in Second, and Paul L. Silva in Third. From the Saint Dominic School, winners were Gabriella M. Alvarado in First, Logan Ascione in Second, and Danielle M. Murat in Third. And finally, from Lake Riviera MS, winners were Jason H. Glandorf in First, Amaya Dalton in Second, and Elena J. Villalobos in Third.
“The VFW is dedicated to promoting Patriotism and investing in our future generation. Annually VFW National top awards are a $30,000 scholarship to a high school student and $5,000 to middle school,” said Cmdr. John Kirwin of VFW Post 8867.
You can see the 2017 national winners on vfw.org.
