Three Deerfield School students were recently honored as recipients of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) District 5 (Union County) Patriot’s Pen Youth Essay contest. The VFW awards ceremony held at the Cranford VFW Post recognized students who participated in both the Patriot’s Pen Youth Essay Contest and the Voice of Democracy Audio Essay Contest. For the first time in District 5 history, all three award winners of the Patriot’s Pen Youth Essay contest were from the same school and sponsored by the same VFW Post. The following Deerfield School studentswere award recipients:
First Place: Hannah Tao
Second Place: Rachel Bataille
Third Place: Sarah Luckenbach
The Patriot’s Pen Youth Essay Contest started in 1996 and is a VFW nationwide youth essay contest which gives students in grades sixth, seventh, and eight an opportunity to write compositions expressing their views on democracy and patriotism. Each year, more than 120,000 students participate in the contest. Essays must be between 300 to 400 words and original in content. Judging criteria is: knowledge of theme, theme development and clarity of ideas. This year’s theme was: “America’s Gift to My Generation.”
Each award recipient received a VFW plaque and monetary award. Tim McLaughlin, VFW Post 10136 Mountainside, stated, “I am extremely proud of our award recipients from the Deerfield School. I thank each of them for their participation in the program and for the support of their families and school administration at the Deerfield School. A very special thank you to Deerfield School Principal, Kimberly Richards, and eighth grade social studies teacher, Bryan Young, for their partnership with the Mountainside VFW in this program and motivating their students to participate.”
(above, l-r) Duane Sarmiento, NJ VFW State Sr. Vice Commander; Kimberly Richards, Deerfield School Principal; Rachel Bataille, 2nd Place; Sarah Luckenbach, 3rd Place; Hannah Tao, 1st Place; and Tim McLaughlin, VFW Post 10136 Commander.
