Memorial Middle School eighth-grader Terrance Dumoulin was awarded the district level second-place prize for the VFW Patriot’s Pen program. On May 4, 2015, Terrance and his parents, residents of Middlebury, attended the District 2 awards luncheon in Madison, Conn., at the VFW Post, where he read aloud his award-winning essay. The contest organizers presented him with a certificate, engraved plaque and a silver coin from the U.S. Mint.
Terrance’s mother, Maria Lynch Dumoulin, said, “It was a very nice recognition and we are pleased that the teachers at Region 15 encouraged all of the eighth-grade students to participate in this competition.”
The VFW Patriot’s Pen Contest is a nationwide writing competition in which students express their views on democracy. Annually, more than 115,000 students participate in the contest nationwide. This year, students wrote a 300- to 400-word essay based on the theme, “Why I Appreciate America’s Veterans.” The entry-level winning essays that moved on to the district competition were selected by members of the Southbury-based George Newton VFW Post 1607, who judged them on theme development, clarity of ideas and knowledge of the theme.
Other MMS students who participated in the contest were Walker Morris, Michael Trager, Terrance Dumoulin, Dylan Post, Olivia Hermonot, McKenna Ellsworth and Jillian Murray. Rochambeau Middle School students submitting essays were Izzy Watson, Jacob Finkel-Hozer, Dylan Kim, Robert Miller, Nate Barstrom, Jake Zilkha, Seth Alley, and Isabelle Brainerd.
The contest consists of four levels. The entry level is sponsored by local VFW Posts. Post winners advance to the district level where the one first-place winner advances to the state level. The one first-place winner then advances into the VFW national competition. The winner from each state then competes for the national prizes.
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