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Two Fulda High School students earned placings in the Veterans of Foreign Wars Patriot’s Pen and Voice of Democracy essay contests. Pictured L to R, are: Diane Rabenberg, Roxanne Kremer, Jayden Meinders - who earned second place in the local Patriot’s Pen contest, Taylor Anderson - who earned third place in the local Voice of Democracy, Jean Hoffman, and Carolyn Penning. Wilmont VFW and Auxiliary sponsored the local contests.
Jayden Meinders, Fulda, has been announced as the second place winner in the local 2025-2026 Patriot’s Pen patriotic essay competition. Sponsored by the Wilmont VFW and VFW Auxiliary #2603, the essay competition gives students in grades 6th, 7th and 8th grades an opportunity to write essays expressing their views on an annual patriotic theme.
Earning first place in the Wilmont VFW sponsored competition was Karmen Martinez from Worthington Middle School. Third place went to Regan Penning from VIBE Online Learning in Worthington. Each winner received a Patriot’s Pen certificate and a monetary gift with first place receiving $75, second place $50, and third place $25.
The essays written by Martinez, Meinders, and Penning were submitted by the Wilmont VFW for District Level competition. Penning’s submission won first place at District and was forwarded to the Minnesota state competition.
Taylor Anderson, a senior at Fulda High School, was announced as the third place winner in the 2025-2026 Voice of Democracy local contest which was also sponsored by the Wilmont VFW and VFW Auxiliary. Receiving first place was Gavin Ballard of Luverne High School, with second place going to Natalie M. Berning, also of Luverne. Ballard was chosen as the District winner and moved on to the Minnesota State Department VFW competition.
“How Are You Showing Patriotism and Support for Our Country?” was the theme for this year’s essay competitions, The Patriot’s Pen essay competition was enacted in 1995 as a way to encourage young minds to examine America’s history, along with their own experiences in modern American society while improving their writing skills.
The Voice of Democracy audio-essay program was established in 1947, It provides high school students with the opportunity to express themselves in a recorded essay. The national first-place winner receives a $35,000 scholarship paid directly to the recipient’s American university, college or vocational/technical school.
A complete list of other national scholarships range from $1,000$15,000, and the first place winner from each VFW state department wins a minimum scholarship of $1,000 and an all-expense paid trip to Valley Forge.
