Scholarships: Voice of Democracy and Patriot's Pen

Kim Lewis
2015-2016 National Scholarships Ambassador

What an exciting year we have ahead of us! We have four Scholarship contests to promote. The first two being the Voice of Democracy and Patriot’s Pen Contests with the entry deadline to the local VFW Post on Sunday, November 1. It’s time to spread the word to as many people as possible regarding the information for of these both competitions. This year’s theme for the grades 9-12 Voice of Democracy Audio Essay is “My Vision for America” and for the grades 6-8 Patriot’s Pen Essay, the theme is “What Freedom Means to Me.”

Many of you have asked why the Auxiliary isn't included in the judging process for Voice of Democracy and Patriot's Pen contests. Please be aware these are VFW-sponsored contests and the Auxiliary assists the Posts with these scholarship contests.

Please be sure you understand the rules for each scholarship contest before you speak with teachers, students and/or parents about the contests.

Community Awareness of our scholarship contests is again one of our goals this year. We need to let the community know what great financial opportunities we provide for talented students. Some ways to achieve this are:

• Place a free advertisement/press release in your local newspaper describing the elements of each contest – including the award amounts of each scholarship and who to contact at your local Post and/or Auxiliary. Click here for a sample press release for Voice of Democracy and click here for a sample release for Patriot’s Pen.
• Place posters in local stores, restaurants, libraries, Boys & Girls Clubs, YMCA, etc., with permission. Posters for both programs can be purchased from the VFW Store. Voice of Democracy Posters: http://www.vfwstore.org/products/22915 and  Patriot's Pen Posters: http://vfwstore.org/products/28509  
• Don't forget about social media to reach students and their parents! Facebook, Twitter, and Post/Auxiliary websites at the local, District and Department levels are excellent places to post information about our contests. 

A sample Facebook post for Voice of Democracy could read:

Do you know a student in grades 9-12 who could use up to $30,000 for college? Encourage them to enter the VFW's Voice of Democracy audio-essay competition. Each year, nearly 40,000 high school students from across the country enter to win a share of the $2.2 million in educational scholarships and incentives awarded through the VFW’s Voice of Democracy audio-essay competition. The national first-place winner receives a $30,000 scholarship and other national scholarships range from $1,000-$16,000, and the first-place winner from each state wins a minimum scholarship of $1,000 and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. This year’s theme is “My Vision for America.” Entries can be submitted to VFW Post (enter your post and contact info) no later than midnight on November 1, 2015. Click here for more information: http://www.vfw.org/VOD/

A sample Facebook post for Patriot's Pen could read:
Each year more than 125,000 students in grades 6-8 enter the VFW’s Patriot’s Pen youth essay contest. The first-place winner from each state competes for national awards totaling $50,000, with each first-place state winner receiving a minimum of $500 at the national level. The national first-place winner wins $5,000 and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., in March. This
year’s theme is “What Freedom Means to Me.”  Entries can be submitted to VFW Post (enter your post and contact info) no later than midnight on November 1, 2015. Click here for more information: http://www.vfw.org/PatriotsPen/

If we work on our Community Awareness Goal, we will achieve our Student Participation Goal. I’m looking to see an increase in participation this year because of the excitement you create promoting these scholarship opportunities.