Wagner, Burkart place in Voice of Democracy essay competition

The Veterans of Foreign Wars Voice of Democracy essay competition proved to be a successful venture for St. Patrick Catholic High School students. Senior Hannah Wagner won the first place district award, and senior John David Burkart won the third place award. The competitions include nearly 40,000 students across the country. The total amount of scholarships given away totals $2 million. Wagner and Burkhart will go on to participate in the state and national competitions.  The national first place winner will receive a $30,000 scholarship.

The program was established in 1947 to help student express their opinions of today’s democratic ideals and fund academic higher education. The competition was for students in grades nine through twelve.  This year the theme was, “My Vision For America.” Students recorded themselves reading their essay and submitted it to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. To judge, the group looked for inspiration and creativity. They also judged based upon speech delivery from the audio clip.

First place winner Hannah Wagner was extremely excited to be the district winner. She explained, “My essay was about my vision for America. This vision includes making the United States a nation that other nations want to imitate not intimidate, ally with and assist not see as a perpetrator to resist. Most importantly that we become a nation that is respected and with that respect ignite all nations into a peace-loving world.”

We are immensely proud of our two district winners! Thank you for representing St. Patrick so well!

Story by Caroline Rinker