Rule 1. All high school seniors from the class of 2008 as well as adults who are pursuing a degree from a college or university or any accredited post high school training program such as a vocational technical trade school. Those pursuing a master's degree as well as other post-graduate degrees are also eligible for this scholarship.
Rule 2. You may be an active member of the VVA or AVVA. You may also be a spouse, son, daughter, granddaughter, grandson, niece, or nephew of a current active member of the VVA or AVVA.
Rule 3. VVA and AVVA members must be an active member prior to the posting of the contest.
Rule 4. The award is not based on financial need, it is a contest of merit and writing skills.
Rule 5. All contestants must be a member or a relative of a member for a minimum of one year prior to the posting of the Essay Contest.
Rule 6. Judging of the essays should be done by a group of members, associate members, and qualified spouses of members. No judge will know who submitted any essay. Only the committee members of Don Dignan, Dean Bell, and Tom Brown will know which essay belongs to which contestant. No one on the Committee will be able to be a judge and judges should not be a relative of any contestant.
1st Place $750
2nd Place $450
3rd Place $300
The prize money has been increased by 50 percent this year.
The thesis (topic) of the essay is: Many Americans believe National Security is one of the most important responsibilities of our Federal Government. Do you believe this to be true? In that light, how should the new Administration handle the challenge of conducting the War Against Terror and minimizing the potential for another attack on American soil and Americans oversea?
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.
The paper effectively and insightfully develops a point of view on the issue and demonstrates outstanding critical thinking, using clearly appropriate examples, reasons, and other evidence to support its position. The paper is well organized and clearly focused, demonstrating clear coherence and smooth progression of ideas. It exhibits skillful use of language, using a varied, accurate, and apt vocabulary. The paper demonstrates meaningful variety in sentence structure and is free of errors in grammar, usage, mechanics, and spelling errors.
1. Participants must include a cover page stating their name, address, phone number, email, 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.
2. Judges will not know the names of the essay contestants. Only the Essay Committee will know who wrote each essay. Judges will be asked to select their three best essays and rank them as 1st place, 2nd place, and 3rd place. Individual judge's scores will only be known to the Essay Contest Committee. The Committe will then add up all scores to determine the top three Essays.
3. The posting of the Rules, Eligibility, and Thesis of this Essay Contest will appear in our July and August Homefront Newsletters and on our Web Site - www.vva528.org. The Thesis will be announced at our July 8th and August 11th General Membership Meetings.
4. Essays may be turned in between August 1st thru September 12th 2008. No essays will be eligible for being judged after Midnight of September 12th (Friday). All essays must be sent by email to seitzteacher@yahoo.com (Tom Brown's email address). Judges will have from Monday, September 15th to Monday, September 29th to judge and rank the essays. Winners will be notified by phone or email as soon as possible so they may be presented their Prize Money and Certificates at our October 12th General Membership meeting.
1st Place is awarded to Regan Byers - Regan's Essay
2nd Place is awarded to Alex Enright - Alex's Essay
3rd Place is awarded to Sean Abraham - Sean's Essay
All finalists did an outstanding job on their essay. The contest theme was: "As a college student today, please explain your conviction regarding reinstating conscription (the draft), and how it could affect our present war in Iraq and the future of the military." Cheryl Vatcher-Martin and I, would like to congratulate the three finalists for their excellent task of writing and thank our eight judges for taking their time to read and evaluate all essays. The judges: Rich Whipple, Gary Kubik, Doug Fox, Rick Popa, Cheryl Brown, Mary Boudreau, Kelly Pellegrini, and Michelle Martin. President Bill Boudreau has extended an invitation for the three finalists to come to our September General Membership Meeting.
