Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3227 and the VFW Ladies Auxiliary of St. Cloud held an awards ceremony on Nov. 25, for the winners of the Patriot’s Pen Essay Contest and Voice of Democracy Scholarship Program.

Commander Lasky said he was impressed by the content of the Patriot’s Pen Essays. There were 62 entries from St. Cloud schools. The subject was: What I Would Tell America’s Founding Fathers. There were two first-place winners:  Elijah De Camilio and Chloe Joel. Both are students at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School in St. Cloud. It was a tie vote and both winners’ entries were forwarded to VFW District 8 competition.  

The winner of the Voice of Democracy  was Brianna Piasecki, a student at Osceola County School of the Arts. The subject of her presentation was:  Is The U.S. Constitution Still Relevant Today?  From beginning to end, the speech was well written, VFW officials said. She ended with a quote by James Madison.  “The happy union of these states is a wonder; their Constitution a miracle; their example, the hope of liberty throughout the world.”

These young citizens, both winners and participants, give us hope for the future of our country, according to a VFW press release.  They are future of this great republic.  They will choose different career paths to follow.  Some may be our leaders in the city, state, or federal government.  No matter what they choose, they are learning what makes our nation great.  Hopefully, they will teach the next generation to value and defend our freedoms, the press release stated.