Ten Sleep student's Voice of Democracy essay wins VFW local and state contests

TEN SLEEP - Ten Sleep sophomore Kinley Anderson's Voice of Democracy essay has taken top honors at the local, district and state level and is headed to the national competition.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in Worland sponsors the local contest of Voice of Democracy for Worland, Ten Sleep, Riverside and Greybull high schools. This year they had entries from Worland and Ten Sleep, according to organizer and VFW Auxiliary member Sandy Tibbs. Worland's winner was Olivia Dalebout and Anderson was the winner from Ten Sleep. Both essays advanced to the district contest with Anderson taking first place. Anderson earned $100 at the local level, $200 at the district level and then won $1,000 by winning the state VFW Voice of Democracy 2020-2021 contest.

This year's theme is "Is This The Country The Founders Envisioned?" Since 1947 the Voice of Democracy has been the VFW's premier scholarship program. Each year, nearly 64,500 high school students compete for more than $2 million in scholarships and incentives. Students compete by writing and recording an audio essay on an annual patriotic theme.

Anderson's title is "Taking the Good and the Bad." Anderson's essay is published on page A5 with permission from the VFW.

Entries are judged on originality - treatment of the theme should show imagination and human interest, according to the VFW description of the Voice of Democracy. Content - clearly expressing ideas in an organized manner, is another criteria; and delivery - speaking in a clear and credible manner, is the final criteria.

The grand prize at the national level is a $30,000 scholarship. Other national scholarships through the program range from $1,000 to $16,000.