Patriotic Youth Contest

Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary to Post 257 recently sponsored a Patriotic Youth Art/Essay Contest for students in grades K through 5  who attend school in El Dorado Springs. Students in K and first grades created original posters showing how a person can be a patriot. Posters included such entries as military personnel, bald eagles, and lots of American flags! Winners in this group are: Kindergarten; 1st place Penny Kinnett,  2nd place  Kriston Entrikin, 3rd place Rylee Miller.   In First grade winners are: 1st place Lucy Goodyear, 2nd place Ellie Wood, and 3rd place Taylee Hudson.

Students in second and third grades were invited to create greeting cards for military veterans to thank them for their service to our country.  The cards were very colorful and creative. The greeting cards will be presented to Veterans at the Community Springs Healthcare facility and some mailed to deployed service members. Winners in this group are: second grade 1st place Paityn  Bland , 2nd place Alexis Antigua,  and 3rd place Aubrey Rodgers . In third grade winners are: 1st place Grace Tucker, 2nd place Shay Linsenmyer, and 3rd place Alyvia Mansell.

Fourth and fifth grade students were asked to write an essay on the topic “I Love Being an American Because…”. They shared wonderful stories of family members who are in the military or are first responders; of the activities they enjoy such as hunting and fishing and sports because they live in such a great country whereas children from other countries might not get to do those things. They shared their appreciation for the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to be represented in the government by voting; some students mentioned how brave our country is and how we help other countries when they are in need. Winners in this group are: fourth grade 1st place – McKenzie Cole,   2nd place Caylee Wilkewitz ,  and 3rd place Kason Roe . In fifth grade winners are: 1st place Karson Burley,  2nd place Rowan Johnson, and 3rd place Ben Schmidt .

Congratulations to all of the nearly 600 students who participated. Each student received a patriotic book mark and a flag. Thank you to the teachers and administration for supporting this project sponsored by the VFW Auxiliary 257.