We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
Three Turner Public School (TPS) students were honored in an impromptu ceremony during the lunch hour on Wednesday, March 29. Brenda Maloney, Vice President of the American Legion Auxiliary (ALA), Unit 109 of Turner, presented Holly Grabofsky, Caleb Zellmer, and Charlie Calvert with First Place certificates and cash prizes in the 2023 Americanism Essay Contest.
Every year, the ALA sponsors an Americanism Essay Contest for students in grades 3-12, including students with special needs. Grade levels are divided into six classes with one winner being named in each category. In the junior high and high school, Class III designates students in grades seven and eight; Class IV captures ninth and tenth graders, Class V denotes juniors and seniors, and Class VI encompasses students with special needs. With essays due on March 1, this year's topic invited writers to explore the topic: What does patriotism mean to you?
Taking top honors in Class V was senior Charlie Calvert; Caleb Zellmer, a sophomore, won in Class IV; and eighth grader Holly Grabofsky was the Class III winner. Each received an award certificate and a check for $50.00. In addition, a $50.00 donation in Calvert's, Zellmer's, and Grabofsky's name will be made to the Children of Warriors National President's Scholarship fund.
Maloney thanked all of the students for participating in the contest. "As always, you have done a great job on your essays. Unfortunately, we can only choose one paper from each Class to go on for further judging, so the task is not always very easy, as you do such nice work. We appreciate your taking the time to do this."
To take top honors, Calvert described true patriots as having "loyalty to their country, not their government. A true patriot keeps the government within the bounds of law. . . . Patriots stand proud and use their voices when something is muddled. Patriots fight for their rights whether the odds be great or small. . . . to make a difference as well as to effect change."
The judging committee especially noted Calvert's closing paragraph as setting his essay apart: "I agree with Charlton Heston when he said, 'I say the Second Amendment, is in order of importance, the first amendment. . . . The right to keep and bear arms is the one right that allows rights to exist at all.' Our patriots will bear arms to keep our rights ours, and not the government's. They won't allow us to trade our rights for security and to blindly follow the government. So, are we going to silence the patriots and trade our rights for security or let them exercise their first amendment and protect our rights? The country would fall if we all were sheep, so be glad we have these sheep dogs to keep us safe from the wolves."
The Class IV winner, Zellmer initially focused on the flag's symbolism but went beyond that to define patriotism as "showing extreme adulation for one's country and giving your life to protect it in whatever form that takes."
He extended his point by adding, "Patriotism is not something that can be found or given to someone. It has to be cultivated in one's heart and propagated into the beautiful garden of everyone in our country joining together. Giving our lives and time to make the country that we call home a better place to live in. As long as that patriotism is continually cultivated and cared for by the future generations of our great USA, this love for our country will never die."
Finally, Grabofsky wrote an extended definition of patriotism, indicating its "more hidden and unrecognized forms." She included such lines as "Patriotism is the glue to mend our shattered democracy. Unblinded by our image of a perfect government, a patriot sees what is wrong and fixes it. Patriotism is not naive. A patriotic American would do anything in his or her power to fight for the well-being of their country, even if it is opposed to the government."
Calvert, Zellmer, and Grabofsky will advance to the next level of competition where they will compete with other state placers. Department winners and their essays are then forwarded on to the National Americanism Division Chairman by April 15. Following the ALA convention, national winners will be posted at http://www.ALAforVeterans.org.
