Ingleside Students Earn Scholarships in ‘Voice of Democracy’ Competition

Courtesy: VFW Post 6386 Auxiliary

Members of the Ingleside VFW Post 6386 Auxiliary, located at 1492 Hwy. 361, hosted the annual ‘Voice of Democracy’ competition Tuesday night, February 13th, awarding two scholarships for a total of $500.

Mallory P. Gordan was the top winner. The 17-yearold senior at Ingleside High School received a check for $300.

The runner up was Tommy Cecil Flournoy a 9th grader at ingleside High/ The 15-year-old received $200.

The Voice of Democracy competition provides high school students with the opportunity to speak out on freedom and democracy, the auxiliary stated. “The program has been popular and successful since its beginning in 1947, and we’re proud to keep offering it to America’s young people,” they remarked in a press release after the event.

The Voice of Democracy is a worldwide audio-essay competition that requires entrants to write and record a three-to-five-minute essay on a patrioticbased theme. “What are the greatest attributes off our Democracy?” was this year’s theme.

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) started the Voice of Democracy Scholarship program. The VFW became a national sponsor in the late 1950s and assumed sole responsibility for the program in 1961. The competition was created to provide students grades 9-12 the opportunity to express themselves about democratic ideas and principles. Around 40,000 students participate in the competition each year and VFW awards more than $2.1 million in scholarships every year.