Page 6 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • February 27, 2013
FLOW Area
Students win VFW essay scholarship program
by Frank J. McMahon Six Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School students have been recognized as the winners of the 2013 Franklin Lakes Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5702 Voice of Democracy Audio Essay Scholarship Program. The Voice of Democracy is an annual contest that is designed to foster patriotism by giving high school students the opportunity to voice their opinions about their personal obligations as Americans and their responsibilities to the country. This year’s topic was: “Is Our Constitution Still Relevant?” Contestants wrote and then recorded a three- to five-minute essay on this theme, and a faculty committee at both high schools judged their school’s entries on the basis of originality, content, and delivery. VFW Post 5702 Member/Representative Bob Talan, with Ramapo High School Social Studies Supervisor Joseph DelBuono, and Indian Hills Social Studies Supervisor Keely Leggour presented the student awards at a recent school board meeting. As first place winners at their schools, Ramapo High School junior Dacey Trotta and Indian Hills High School junior Nick E. Macalle each received checks for $150. Ramapo junior Kristen Arnold and Indian Hills freshman Caitlyn Lubas each received second place checks for $100. Third place winners, Ramapo junior Matt Sabatini and Indian Hills senior Kaitlyn McWha, each received checks for $75. McWha was the first place winner of the VFW Democracy contest in 2010. This is the third time she has placed in the top three winners in this contest. In Trotta’s essay, she described the U.S. Constitution as an “ageless masterpiece” that is still undeniably relevant with its unfailing guidelines for society. Trotta recounted how, before the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, the country was bound together by the Articles of Confederation, which she claims failed to regulate state authority in domestic affairs. “Sensing the looming possibility of a crumbling union,” Trotta wrote, “our founding fathers gathered together at the state house in Philadelphia (in 1787) to draft what would become the oldest national constitution in existence.” She described it as the “supreme law of the land” and a document that outlined the separation of powers and established the “quintessential right of individual liberty.” “The U.S. Constitution is more than just political principles to guide a life by,” Trotta wrote, “it is a document responsible for the unification of America’s fragments. It has become the backbone of the formidable nation of the United States. It has made America the land of the free and the home of the brave. It has made America the promised land for every ethnicity and the beautiful homeland we know it (as) today.” Macalle wrote that, since its ratification in 1789, the Constitution of the United States of America has served as the “supreme law of the land,” the framework of America, and the “bulwark of this nation’s liberties.” “The Constitution of the United States of America is never dormant, nor is it ever idle,” he wrote. “It is a document that lives on through the years, evolving around dif-
ferent generations, adding amendments if necessary to adapt to various circumstances that were not confronted in 1787 when it was drafted. “It bestows the fruitful bounty of liberty and the most secure freedom on its inhabitants,” Macalle stated. “Having principles rooted in life, liberty, and property, the Constitution establishes the most just and free society the world has ever known… The Constitution of the United States of America has established the most free and prudent government ever in existence and that it maintains its relevance through its essential method of amending itself when deemed necessary, as well as inciting national debates which involve the people in it, its effects, and contents.” Macalle claimed the Constitution is repeatedly neglected and unappreciated by Americans. He described how Thomas Jefferson remarked how little his fellow countrymen knew about the precious blessings they were in possession of and which no other people on earth enjoy. “However,” Macalle wrote, “notwithstanding it being frequently undermined, the immortal guidelines it instituted shall and will cure any conflict that burdens American prosperity, as it always has.” Since 1947, the Voice of Democracy has been the Veterans of Foreign Wars premier scholarship program. Each year, more than 50,000 high school students compete for more than $2.3 million in scholarships and incentives. Elizabeth Scannell, a junior at Berkeley Middle College High School, was named the national 2012 Voice of Democracy winner. Her essay won her a $30,000 college scholarship. Scannell was sponsored by VFW Post 10256 and its Ladies Auxiliary in Goose Creek, South Carolina.