Congratulations to Julia Greeley and Varnum Bayless who took first place and third place honors in this year's Marlton Elks Chapter #2514 essay contest pertaining to Americanism. The theme for this year's essay was "What Veteran's Day Means to Me".
Since 1995, our school district has participated in the essay contest that is open to students in grades five through eight attending local area schools. Mrs. Terry Gerber, presently an RtI teacher in School #1 organized our participation in the event back when she was a fifth grade teacher.
Each year the teachers have been asked to volunteer to present this contest to their students. In the last two years four of the six winners have come from Southampton. Last year Cameron Lubner and Lexi Martinez won the contest.
This year's winners, Julia Greeley and Varnum Bayless are both students in Mrs. Matthew's S.T.E.P. class. Both students and their families are invited to attend a ceremony and they will be honored at a Youth and Citizen's Awards Banquet on Sunday, May 4th at the Gibson House, Marlton, NJ. Congratulations!
The following is the first place winning essay submitted by School #2 fifth grader Julia Greeley:
What Veterans' Day Means to Me
I LOVE Veterans' Day. I can't believe that people risk their lives for the safety of our country. It makes me want to cry when I think about being away from my family that long. I that it is amazing for people to actually go out to fight and come back alive! I will never be brave enough, or strong enough to ever step on the battlefield.
My family and I are very close. I would not survive a week without any of my family members. If my mom or dad were in the military, I wouldn't know what to do other than cry.
I always get excited when it come time for the Veterans' Day Parade. Seeing the red, white, and blue flags waving in the air always puts me in a good spirit, though it brings tears to my eyes when the large group of veterans walks by in their camouflage.
I cry when I think about people fighting for safety in a field with guns and bombs. Anyone who is brave enough to be in war is a true hero. Thank you for being a true hero, my hero.
The following is the third place winning essay of Varnum Bayless:
What Does Veterans' Day mean to me?
Veterans Day means to me a day to honor our veterans, or as I call them, heroes.
I am honored because my parents are veterans, and it makes me proud to think there is a day to honor them and all of the other veterans who served in the United States military on active duty or served in a war. Veterans Day makes me think about all those people who served in the military to protect our country. I think about how proud my parents make me, and all the other veterans who risked their lives, and maybe have kids, and it brings tears of joy to my eyes. These brave people were willing to risk their lives to protect our country.
It makes me happy, so happy I’m on the brink of tears, to know what these men and women did. I often say to myself, “I hope our veterans know how proud they should be because they helped protect our country and our way of life.” I know that if I was a veteran, I would be happy with the thought, “I am a veteran, and I risked my life to serve our country, and know I risked making the ultimate sacrifice.” That is what Veterans Day means to me.
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