VVA Chapter 528 is again offering an essay scholarship contest this year. The scholarship is not based on financial need; it is a contest of merit and writing skills. Prize Money: 1st Place $750; 2nd Place $450; 3rd Place $300.
The Essay Question for this year is: Patriotism is defined as love of and/or devotion to one's country. What does Patriotism mean to you?
All contestants must be either an eligible member (paid-up) of VVA or AVVA Chapter 528 Plymouth-Canton for at least one year prior to the posting of our contest (since July 1, 2008) or a relative of an active member of Chapter 528. This only includes: spouse, son, daughter, granddaughter, grandson, niece, or nephew. Contestants must be at least a high school senior from the class of 2009 or be pursuing a degree from a college or university or any accredited post high school training program such as a vocational technical trade school.
Essays may be turned in between August 12th thru September 12th 2009. No essays will be eligible for being judged after midnight of September 12th (Saturday). All essays must be sent by e-mail to tom@vva528.org (Tom Brown's e-mail address). Judges will have from Monday, September 14th to Monday, September 28th to judge and rank all essays. All participants will be notified by phone or email as soon as possible. All contestants will receive a participation letter. The top three contestants will be invited to our October 12, 2009 General Membership Meeting so they can receive their prize money and certificates.
Judging of the essays is done by a group of Chapter 528 members, associate members, and qualified spouses of members. No judge will know who submitted any essay. Only the Essay Scholarship Committee Members of Don Dignan, Dean Bell, and Tom Brown will know which essay belongs to which contestant. No one on the Essay Scholarship Committee will be able to be a judge and judges can not be a relative of any contestant. Judges will be asked to score all essays and rank them. Individual judges' scores will only be known to the Essay Contest Committee. The Committee will then add up all of the judges' scores to determine the top three Essays.
Contestants must include a cover page stating their name, address, phone number, e-mail, one's university/college or vocational technical trade school, and their association with a chapter member. The cover page is not included as part of the essay. Contestants must use one inch margins, readable fonts such as New York, Times, or Helvetica, a font size of 12 pt., and double spacing. Use four or five pages for the length of your essay. All papers must include a Works Cited page. The Works Cited page is not part of one's paper length. Number all of your pages except for your cover page. Essays will be judged on the following criteria: Content, Organization, Thesis, Format, Grammar, and Spelling.
Every essay must contain three essential elements. First, the essay must provide a thesis statement (in the introductory paragraph). The thesis statement must encapsulate the main argument for the paper. It must be clear and coherent, and it must answer the essay question. Second, the essay must offer supporting evidence. The writer must provide the supporting evidence in paragraph form. Each paragraph must contain evidence that supports one idea or concept that proves the thesis statement. The writer must provide citations (in footnote, endnote, or parenthetical form) for all evidence presented. Third, every essay must follow basic rules of format and grammar. Every paper must contain a beginning (introductory paragraph), a middle (several supporting paragraphs that comprise the body of the paper), and an end (concluding paragraph). Grammar is vital for essay composition. Sentence fragments, misspellings, and improper punctuation denote a carelessly written and poorly conceived paper.
Here are the winners for the 2010 VVA528 Essay Scholarship Contest. These three students were the
only participants; they were notified by email Friday morning, and have been invited to our
Oct 11 general membership meeting for the presentation of their awards and photos.
FIRST PLACE - Samuel Bell - Nephew of Dean Bell - $750 Award -
Eastern Michigan University. Samuel Bell's Essay
SECOND PLACE - Lauren Wietchy - Niece of Jim Austin - $450 Award
- Saginaw Valley State University. Lauren Wietchy's Essay
THIRD PLACE - Jamie Light - Niece of Ron Wroblewski - $300
Award - Michigan State University. Jamie Light's Essay
ESSAY QUESTION: To foster patriotism in our citizenry, should some kind of minimal service to the country be required of all citizens whether military or otherwise?
Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), Plymouth-Canton Chapter 528 is once again offering an essay scholarship contest this year. The award is not based on financial need. It is a contest of merit and writing skills. Download the 2010 Rules.
Prize money: 1st Place $750; 2nd Place $450; and 3rd Place $300.
Eligibility: High school seniors/graduates of the class of 2010 and other students who are pursuing an undergraduate degree from a college or university or any accredited post high school training program such as a vocational technical trade school are eligible. Those pursuing a master's degree as well as other post-graduate degrees are also eligible for this scholarship. All Contestants must be either an eligible member of VVA Chapter 528 (paid-up) or eligible member of Associates of Vietnam Veterans (AVVA) Plymouth-Canton, Chapter 528 for at least one-year prior to the posting of the contest (membership since July 01, 2009); or an eligible relative of an active VVA eligible Chapter 528 Member. This relationship includes spouse, son, daughter, granddaughter, grandson, niece, or nephew.
Timing: Essays may be turned in from August 12, 2010, to September 13, 2010. No essays will be eligible for being judged received after midnight Monday, September 13. All essays are to be sent by email to Mr. Ron King at rking2963@wowway.com. Attached essay documents must be sent in MS Word .doc format (not .docx) Judging: Judges will have from Tuesday, Sept 14th to Tuesday September 28, 2010, to evaluate and rank all essays.
Judging of the essays: Judging will be done by a group of Chapter 528 members, associate members, and qualified spouses of members. No judge will know who submitted any essay. Only the Essay Scholarship Committee members will know which essay belongs to which contestant. No one on the Essay Scholarship Committee will act as a judge, and judges should not be a relative of any contestant. Judges will individually rank all essays submitted. Individual judges' rankings will only be known by the Essay Contest Committee members. The Committee will assign points to determine the final consolidated rankings of all essays submitted. In the event of a tie(s), prize money will be awarded equally among the tied contestants. Example: 1st place 2-way tie: $600 each, 3rd place $300, etc.
Contest Results and Notification: All participants will be notified by telephone or email September 29-30 by the Essay Committee. All contestants will receive a participation letter, and the top three winners will be invited to the VVA Chapter 528 General Membership meeting on Monday, October 11, 2010, to receive their prize money and certificates.
Essay Topic Question: The essay topic question will be announced on Monday, July 12, 2010, at the VVA 528 General Membership Meeting, on the VVA Chapter 528 Website: www.vva528.org/essaycontest.html, and posted at the VFW Hall Post 6695 Bulletin Board. It will also be included in the August 2010 Homefront newsletter with the contest announcement, rules, eligibility, and other details.
Essay Requirements: Every essay must contain three essential elements. First, the essay must provide a thesis statement in the introductory paragraph. The thesis statement must encapsulate the main argument for the paper. It must be clear and coherent, and it must answer the essay question. Second, the essay must offer supporting evidence. The writer must provide the supporting evidence in paragraph form. Each paragraph must contain evidence that supports one idea or concept that proves the thesis statement. The writer must provide citations (in footnote, endnote, or parenthetical form) for all evidence presented. Third, every essay must follow basic rules of format and grammar. Every paper must contain a beginning (introductory paragraph), a middle (several supporting paragraphs that comprise the body of the paper), and an end (concluding paragraph). The use of sentence fragments, misspellings, and improper punctuation will be reflected in the overall scoring of essays. Format and Personal Information: Contestants must include a cover page stating their name, address, phone number, email, university/college or vocational technical trade school, and their association with a chapter member. The cover page is not included as part of the Essay. Contestants must use one-inch margins, readable fonts such as Arial, New York, Times New Roman, or Helvetica, a Font Size of 12 pt., and double spacing. Use MS Word .doc format (not .docx). Use four or five pages for the length of the essay. All pages must be numbered except for the cover page. A Works Cited page must be included with a minimum of 3 references. Essays will be judged on the following criteria: thesis, content, organization, format, and grammar.
Dean Bell, Don Dignan, and Ron King
2010 Essay Scholarship Committee, VVA Chapter 528
June 23, 2010
