Sandy Creek Central School District • News • Voice of Democracy Contestants from Sandy Creek High School

Voice of Democracy Contestants from Sandy Creek High School

December 10th, 2014 by Lani Camp - Center for Instruction, Technology & Innovation

Sandy Creek High School students participating in the Voice of Democracy program through the VFW Cable Trail Post 8534 are pictured left to right: Lexi Goodnough, Heidi Brown, Abbigail Irwin, Jay Ivison, and Joshua Lococo. The students presented their essays in front of the student body at the school.

The Voice of Democracy program, the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ (VFW) scholarship program has awarded millions of dollars of scholarship monies to students each year through their audio essay contest. Students write and record an essay on an annual patriotic theme. This year’s theme: “Why Veterans are Important to our Nation’s History and Future” inspired five students from Sandy Creek High School to participate. Lexi Goodnough, Heidi Brown, Abbigail Irwin, Jay Ivison and Joshua Lococo participated in the opportunity and presented their submissions before the entire student body recently.

The scholarship program, open to all students in grades 9-12, is sponsored at the local level by Cable Trail Post 8534 in Lacona who provide the first level scholarship opportunities. Dave Lizotte, Post Commander was on hand to present the awards to the top three students in the competition. Earning the top spot was the essay by Lexi Goodnough, second place went to Jay Ivison, and third place was earned by Joshua Lococo. These students will advance to the county level with the potential to earn more scholarship monies. The top award at the national level earns the winning student a $30,000 scholarship prize. The Voice of Democracy program is coordinated at Sandy Creek High School by Social Studies Teacher Robert Ferguson.