New Blaine VFW awards essay contest winners
The Veterans of Foreign Wars post in New Blaine named four students as winners of its first essay contest.
Jaden Perry, a senior at Western Yell County High School, won the senior high portion of the contest. Perry is
The prompt for her essay was "America: Where do we go from here?" where she laid out struggles facing the United States including barriers to mental health resources, homelessness and school shootings.
"It all starts with us. It starts with how strongly we want our country to prosper," Perry wrote in her essay. "It starts with how far we are willing to go to bring us to that point. We don't need deceitful promises of 'Making America Great Again,' we need to create a new America. An America that truly cares for everyone's right to their freedom."
Perry said she is passionate about what she believes in and wanted to give voice to her beliefs.
“I really wanted to help people out with it and get my voice out on issues I’m passionate about," Perry said.
The junior high competition yielded three winners who the VFW asked to examine the question "How can I be a good American?"
William Schmitz, a sixth-grader from St. Joseph Catholic School, won first place. Allison Wood, a seventh-grader from St. Joseph Catholic School, won second place, and Elizabeth Cauthron, an eighth-grader from St. Joseph Catholic School, won third place.
All three students focused on recycling and obeying laws as ways that they can be good Americans.
“I feel like I want to grow up and I want my children to grow up and their children to grow up in a healthy environment," Wood said.
Schmitz and Wood also highlighted the importance of voting in their essays.
They all pledged to be good Americans.
"I have a lot of pride in my country, and as I grow older, I'll continue to be the best citizen I can be," Cauthron wrote in her essay.
Joe Stone, who has been a part of the VFW since April, said there were 12 submissions in response to the post's call for essay contestants.
Stone said the post chose the four winners based on how they addressed the prompts.
“These were the ones that addressed the requirements of the essay to a T," Stone said.
Robert Hurst, also with the VFW, said he was deeply impressed with the submissions.
“But I don’t think I read any of them that I wasn’t a little shocked that this came from a kid and a young adult," Hurst said.
Hurst said it is important to seek out the opinions of younger people.
“I think us adults can learn a few things from these kids," Hurst said.
The first-place winners will go on to compete against other students in their district. If they win that, they will go on to compete against students across the state, and if they win that, they will compete with students from across the nation.
The first-place national winner in the senior high division will receive $30,000 in scholarships.
Alex Gladden is a University of Arkansas graduate. She previously reported for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and The Jonesboro Sun before joining the Times Record. She can be contacted at agladden@swtimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: New Blaine VFW awards essay contest winners
