Eligibility:

6th, 7th, and 8th grade students.

Enrolled in public, private, parochial schools, or home school programs.

U. S. citizenship not required, but must be a lawful permanent resident.

Rules:

Essays shall be typed in English, no color or graphics.

Length of essay will be between 300 to 400 words. + or – 5 wordleeway is allowed.  The theme title is not part of the word count.

Essay can not contain the student’s name, address, school name, or any other personal identifier.

References to race, sex, religion, national origin, should be avoided in the essay as they may compromise anonymity.

Quotations should be used sparingly, and identified to their source.

Do not hand write name on essay.  The attached entry form will identify the student.

Only one entry per student is allowed.

The essay must be the original work of the student, be a product of their own thinking.  Use of ChatGPT or other AI tools is not allowed.

Teachers, parents, etc. can review and assist with punctuation, grammar, and spelling, but cannot change essay content.

Judging:

Criteria for judging is the same at post, district, and department levels.

Knowledge of the theme is worth 30 points max.  Was knowledge of the theme and indications of research demonstrated.

Theme development is worth 35 points max.Were relevant facts contained in the theme (who, what, when, where, why) answered.  Does the theme relate to the student’s own experience.

Clarity of ideas is worth 35 points max.  Does the judge have a clear understanding of the student’s message in relation to the theme.

Judges must never have visibility of student names or other personal information.

Suggest that each level chair assign a code number on the essay and the entry form to track.

Suggest either 3 or 5 judges at each level.

Schedule:

Post:

All entries for all three programs must be received by Oct 31st, 2025.

Judging will be complete and winning entries forwarded to District by Nov 15th, 2025.

District:

Judging will be complete and winning entries forwarded to Department by Dec 1st, 2025.

Voice of Democracy and Patriot’s Pen winners will be invited and encouraged to attend the Department banquet in January.

Department:

Judging will be complete and forwarded to National by Jan 1st, 2026.

Department will notify, and invite winning teacher at each category to attend the Department banquet.

Department will also notify the District sponsoring the winning teacher, in case they want to assist with banquet costs for the family.

Department banquet will be Jan 10th, 2026 at the Winslow VFW. 

Department Awards:

1st place, $500. Submitted to National competition 

2nd place, $250

3rd place, $100

4th – 10th, $50 each