La Junta Intermediate School

The Patriot’s Pen and Voice of Democracy contests sponsored by the Veteran of Foreign Wars. These two contests promote patriotism and offer scholarships up to $30,000 on the national level for high school students and up to $5,000 on the national level for Jr. high school students. Voice of Democracy is for students in grades 9-12 and consists of a 3-5-minute audio recorded essay on the selected theme. This year’s theme is Is This the Country the Founders Envisioned? The student must submit a written version of their audio presentation with the audio and written copies identical. An application, found at http://ow.ly/Fsdo30reC9x should be completed online, then printed and submitted with the entry. The student must also submit a photograph of him or herself. (See further detailed instructions on the application form). Patriot’s Pen is for students in grades 6-8 and consists of a 300-400 word written essay. This year’s theme is What is Patriotism to Me? An application, found at http://ow.ly/fuLX30reCvX should be completed online, then printed and submitted with the entry. The student must also submit a photograph of him or herself. (See further detailed instructions on the application form). Each school is asked to submit their top three entries for each contest. All entries must be returned to Pat Gonzales at PO Box 169 Las Animas, CO 81054 by Thursday, October 30th. (Due to the short turnaround time, pickup of the entries can be arranged). For further questions, please contact Pat Gonzales via email at patti.shene@gmail.com or by phone at 719-468-8516. Thank you for your anticipated participation in this program.