ROCKINGHAM — Two students and a teacher were honored for their patriotism by VFW Post 4203 on Thursday.
The district level awards were presented by Robin Roberts, president of the post’s Auxiliary chapter.
Gretchen Martin, who teaches English at Richmond Early College High School, was awarded Teacher of the Year. Martin also serves as the student Senate advisor.
“Anything we need, she’s there to do it,” Roberts said as Martin made her way up to accept the award, adding that Martin has been instrumental in getting students involved with VFW activities. “We couldn’t do it without you, and if it wasn’t for teachers like you, stuff like this wouldn’t happen.”
Martin was previously awarded Teacher of the Year in 2021 and 2018.
Ninth-grader Kinsie Lyerly, one of Martin’s students, was the winner of the Voices of Democracy essay contest.
Martin described Lyerly as “a very dedicated, hardworking student.”
Roberts said the winner was picked by local veterans for the essay on why veterans are important.
Lyerly admitted that the essay started off as a “bribe” for extra-credit points, but after writing the essay, “I grew to have an understanding for our veterans … and I also grew to have an understanding of my grandfather, who was one.”
The freshman then read her essay aloud to the crowd
“…veterans are so much more than a seven-word explanation,” Lyerly said, after giving the dictionary definition and citing the statistic that veterans make up more than 7% of the U.S. population. “Veterans are people, co-workers, sisters, nephews, fathers and more … Veterans are more important to civilian life in many ways, not only with the service they provide to us, but with how much they sacrifice and achieve after serving and how they continue to strive to help our community through the workplace.”
Lyerly mentions in her essay the physical and mental effects experienced by veterans, citing that 23% admit to deployment having a negative effect on their health.
“By committing themselves to war, veterans make themselves vulnerable to death, injury and grieving much more easily,” Lyerly said, adding more than half of combat veterans believe they suffer from some type of post-traumatic disorder after leaving the military.
“To summarize what a veteran truly is, we would say that they are people who sacrifice, put themselves through the nightmares of war to promise the people of this country safety and comfort.”
Lyerly also discusses in her essay the difficulty in trying to find and keep employment after serving.
Winning the Patriot’s Pen essay contest is Shamakh Alshaif, a seventh-grader at Cordova Middle.
Alshaif’s essay was a pledge to support veterans and show appreciation for their sacrifices.
Each of the winners received a certificate and check for $100.
