Middle school students submit essays

#Middlebury #Southbury #MMS #RMS #Region15

MMS Patriot’s Pen Contest participants and sponsors were, front, left to right, Will Gracer, Sydney Hotaling, and Najla Shehu and back, left to right, Mr. Carl Buckley of MMS, Mr. Larry Williams of VFW Post 1607, Grayson Mengold, Jasleena Thind, Anthony Mahr, Mr. Tom Sherk of VFW Post 1607, and Mrs. LeAnn Cassidy of MMS. (Jessica Clark photo)

Eighth grade students from Regional School District 15’s two middle schools, Memorial Middle School (MMS) in Middlebury and Rochambeau Middle School (RMS) in Southbury, participated in the Patriot’s Pen youth essay contest sponsored locally by George Newton VFW Post 1607 in Southbury. MMS student Najla Shehu’s essay won special recognition.

The Patriot’s Pen Contest is a national youth essay contest that encourages students to write essays expressing their views on an annual patriotic theme chosen by the VFW Commander-in-Chief. Each year more than 125,000 students in grades 6 to 8 enter the contest. To participate, this year’s eighth grade students wrote essays based on the 2021-22 theme, “How Can I Be A Good American?”

VFW members judged the essays based on theme development, clarity of ideas, and knowledge of the theme. The VFW said the essay contest encourages young minds to examine America’s history, along with their own experiences in modern American society.

MMS students in LeAnn Cassidy and Carl Buckley’s 8th grade U.S. history classes participated in the contest. The following students’ essays won the local VFW Essay Competition and went on to the District 2 Competition: Sydney Hotaling, Jasleena Thind, Najla Shehu, Grayson Mengold, Anthony Mahr, and William Gracer.

Shehu’s essay was chosen as the District 2 Patriot Pen Essay Competition winner, and she was selected as one of the top six essays in the State of Connecticut. Shehu was honored at a banquet in December, where she read her essay to the honored guests and veterans from around the state.

RMS Patriot’s Pen Contest participants were, front, left to right, Joe Ferreira, Andrew Zinzi, Hailey Killian, Samantha Fig, and Soleil Roberts and back, left to right, Trevor Robie, Catherine Powers, Cooper Diaz, Flint Erickson, Alexis Margerison, and Caitlyn Bellesheim. (Jessica Clark photo)

At RMS, students participating in the program were: Caitlyn Bellesheim, Cooper Diaz, Flint Erickson, Joseph Ferreira, Samantha Fig, Hailey Killian, Alexis Margerison, Catherine Powers, Soleil Roberts, Trevor Robie, and Andrew Zinzi. Margerison’s essay was selected to move forward to the regional competition.

Eighth grade history teachers coordinate the program at both middle schools – Karl Buckley and LeAnn Cassidy at MMS and Sonny SanAngelo at RMS. Teachers use the opportunity to integrate themes of patriotism, service, sacrifice, and freedom into student writing.

“We extend our sincerest thanks and appreciation to Mr. Larry Williams at VFW Post 1607 for his hard work and dedication to our students throughout the process,” said Cassidy.