| VFW
Education contest winners named
At the Veteran’s Day assembly, held at Prairie high school, Jack Uptmor the Cottonwood VFW Senior Vice Commander announced this year’s VFW award winners. The Patriot’s Pen is an essay written by sixth through eighth grade students. This year’s Patriot’s Pen theme is “What does patriotism mean to me?” The winners, all in the sixth grade are: 1st place, Anna Kaschmitter, daughter of Mike and Shawna Kaschmitter, 2nd place, Owen Anderson, son of Mark and Stacey Anderson, and 3rd place, Jessie Sonnen, daughter of Norm and Julie Sonnen. The Voice of Democracy is a three to five minute recorded speech given by high school students. This year’s Voice of Democracy theme is “Why I am optimistic about America’s future.” The winners are: 1st place, Nicole Wemhoff, a senior and daughter of Roger and Annette Wemhoff, 2nd place, Chaye Uptmor, a freshman and daughter of Roger and Chris Uptmor , and 3rd place, Sarah Chmelik, a senior and daughter of Jim and Colleen Chmelik. The final VFW award this year is the Citizenship Teacher of the Year and that award goes to Kim Schumacher. Nicole Wemhoff and Anna Kaschmitter will continue to compete at the District II level later this month. If they win district and the State of Idaho, they could go all the way to Washington DC to compete at the national level. The VFW national Patriot’s Pen winner receives a $10,000 bond, and the national Voice of Democracy winner receives a $30,000 scholarship. This year’s distinguished panel of judges was drawn from the financial community, Debra Clark, US Bank Branch Manager, Kathy Kuther, US Bank Teller Coordinator II, and Kenneth Carey, Cottonwood Community Federal Credit Union, Special Credit Officer. I want to extend my thanks to the judges for their daunting task, and to the parents, teachers, and especially the students who make this program a success every year. Join me in wishing Nicole and Anna good luck in the District II competition, and congratulations to all the winners! Joe Riener, Commander Post 4902, Cottonwood |
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