Wyandotte Students Win VFW Essay Contest

Two students were honored at Tuesday night’s Board of Education meeting for their winning essays in the Veterans of Foreign Wars' Voice of Democracy contest. 

The competition is held annually throughout the U.S. and is open to students in grades 9-12. Entries to the contest are first judged by the student’s local, sponsoring VFW post. Seventeen Roosevelt students entered the contest.

At the board meeting, Roosevelt language arts teacher Kelly Lomas introduced senior Jared Jaskowski and junior Bryce Weick, as the winners picked by Wyandotte VFW Post No. 1136.

Jaskowski and Weick read aloud their winning entries, which focused on this year’s theme of “Is There Pride in Serving in our Military?”

he focused on the belief that pride in serving in the military comes from the sacrifices of its members for the greater good.

He said his purpose for that approach to the essay was, “To make sure that people know there is a lot more to serving in the military than just going out and killing and dying.”

After high school, Jaskowski said he wants to enlist in the Navy.

she said pride in the military is something that is with most people from a very early age.

“We really don’t realize that we do have pride for our military since (the time) we’re born,” Weick said. “That (plays) a big role in how we see our veterans.”

Weick said she was elated to receive the honor and immediately called her mother to tell her the good news.

“I was ecstatic,” Weick said. “(I was) just very honored because I didn’t think I would win.”

The two winning essays now advance to a contest at the Michigan VFW district level, which takes place Jan. 7.

Winners who move on from the district level then compete at the state level, with state winners moving on to the national competition, where a $30,000 college scholarship is on the line.

For winning at the local level, both students received $100 and will be honored with a certificate of recognition at a special VFW meeting on Dec. 21.