Honoring Veteran Legacies holds inaugural essay contest
MADISON – Monrovia Middle School eighth grader Lucy Glass understands the importance of learning about veterans’ sacrifices. She recently wrote in an essay, “History is more than facts and dates, it is about the lives that are taken and the bravery that it takes to secure our freedom.”
Lucy’s essay, featuring World War II veteran Sherwin Callander, recently placed second in the Honoring Veteran Legacies-Eternal Salute’s inaugural essay contest. The essay prompt required students and teachers to engage in an Eternal Salute lesson plan and to write about the importance of learning history through a veteran’s personal story.
“The contest was our way of promoting our educational program, Eternal Salute. The program includes videos of our heroes with accompanying lesson plans that are plug-and-play for teachers,” Honoring Veteran Legacies president, Elaine Oakes said. “We received a good response from our local schools, students, and teachers, and were impressed with their work.”
Honoring Veteran Legacies recognized the contest winners at its meeting on June 2nd. Students received a Certificate of Excellence and a monetary award. And their teachers received a monetary award as well.
Glass’s classmate, eighth-grader Julian Haley, won first place in the middle school contest for his essay titled “Racism and Resilience,” featuring WWII veteran Arthur Hullet. As coordinator of Monrovia Middle School’s annual Veterans Day celebration and Glass and Haley’s history teacher, Mark Lambert is an avid supporter of Honoring Veteran Legacies.
“Mark’s commitment to ensuring his students know the importance of our veterans is demonstrated, not only in his classroom, but also in his spectacular annual Veterans Day program,” Oakes said. “He is an ally to our veterans and cares deeply about making sure his students understand their service and sacrifice for our very freedom.”
The winner of the high school portion of the contest was junior Gavin Boyd from Sparkman High School, along with his teacher, Gina Glass. Boyd’s essay utilized the lesson plan titled “A Soldier’s Perseverance”, detailing the story of WWII veteran Charles Henry’s service as a military policeman.
“I had several students enter the essay contest. I am proud of Gavin for spending time researching his veteran and transforming that research into an amazing essay,” Glass said. “ As his teacher, I know that Gavin is very creative and am honored to get to be a part of the hard work he put into the essay.”
Second place went to Charliegh Waybright from Alabama School of Cybertechnology and Engineering and her teacher, Stephen Six, and third place went to Savannah Getter from James Clemens High School and her teacher, Kimberly Steocker.
“Through this essay contest, I learned more about the sacrifices veterans make to protect our country and the challenges many face both during and after their service,” Getter said. “Hearing their stories gave me a greater appreciation for their courage, dedication, and commitment to others. I was honored to participate in the contest, and I felt proud and grateful to place.”
The contest was open to public and private middle and high schools in the Madison, Limestone, and Morgan county areas.
“We are grateful to our veterans for allowing us to record their stories, and to our community and corporate supporters for making this essay contest possible,” Oakes said. “We want to honor our heroes’ wishes by helping their stories to be shared with future generations, and these lesson plans make that easier for teachers in multiple subjects to do that. Congratulations to all the winners.”
