ROCKINGHAM — Three Richmond County students were honored Thursday evening by VFW Post 4203.
Cordova Middle eighth-grader Kingston Gil, 14, received the Patriots Pen award for his essay “My Voice in America’s Democracy.” This was Gil’s second consecutive year winning the award.
Victoria Shelton, 16, was presented the Voice of Democracy award for her essay answering the question: Would our Founding Fathers agree with the America we live in today?
Shelton, a 10th-grader at Richmond Senior High School, said her answer was: “No, they wouldn’t.” She cited issues with politics, war and trade as three of her main points.
“There’s a lot of problems,” she said.
Shelton also placed third at the district level.
Cadet Col. Gracie Self was awarded the Veterans of Foreign Wars JROTC citation and medal for her commitment to the high school’s Army JROTC Raider Battalion.
Self, as senior, has been a member of the unit’s color guard since her freshman year and is currently battalion commander.
After graduation, Self said she plans to attend Richmond Community College and go through the EMT program.
Each student was also presented with a check for $100.
The awards were presented by Post Commander Eddie Dean and Auxiliary President Robin Roberts.
Dean said participation in the Voice of Democracy and Patriot Pin contests are requirements for being designated an All-State or All-American post.
“So we appreciate the effort that’s put in,” Dean said. “Sometimes we have as many as 13 (entries) … We read over them, then we read over them again…and vote on them and (it’s) really, really hard to reach the winners.”
Roberts added, “Y’all are the future of this county and this country and we just thank you for all you, and keep up the hard work.”
The post is planning to present the Teacher of the Year award on Friday.
