VFW kicks-off annual essay competition for middle grade students
Deadline November 1

[July 20, 2015]  LINCOLN - Commander Philip Maughan of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Department of Illinois announced the kick-off of the VFW’s annual Patriot’s Pen youth essay competition. Middle school students in grades sixth through eighth in this state have the opportunity to compete and win at the Post, District, Department and National levels.

The VFW enacted the Patriot’s Pen competition in 1995 to encourage young minds to examine America’s history, along with their own experiences in modern American society by composing a 300 – 400 word patriotic themed essay. The theme for the 2015-2016 competition is, “What Freedom Means to Me.”

Students begin by competing at the local Post level. Post winners advance to District Competition with District winner advancing to the state competition. State first-place winner compete for their share of thousands of dollars in awards, and the National first – place winner is awarded $5,000 and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington D.C.

Each year, more than 125,000 students participate nationwide. Deadline for student’s entries is November 1, and interested students and teachers should contact their local VFW post for more information or email VFW state at [e-mail]

For more details visit: http://www.vfw.org/PatriotsPen.

[Mike DeRoss]