The Voice Of Democracy
Scholarship		Program

2003-04 CONTEST THEME:   "Freedom's Obligation"

WHAT IS IT?

A National Audio Essay Scholarship Competition that was designed to give high school students the opportunity to voice their opinion and address their responsibility to our country. The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and its Ladies Auxiliary truly hope that every high school in our country will provide the opportunity for its students to take part in this competition. Through classroom study projects and special assignments, students will be motivated, while writing and speaking, to express their opinion about their personal responsibilities and better understand the rights and responsibilities of being an American.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAM?

The National Voice of Democracy Program is offered to foster patriotism, love of country and is intended to encourage good citizenship. The program is conducted each year during the fall school term, allowing high school students the opportunity to win valuable scholarships and awards while expressing their opinion on America.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

Students must be in grades 9 through 12 and be properly enrolled in a public, private parochial high school or a home study program in the United States, its territories and possessions or enrolled in an overseas school as a dependent of U.S. military or U.S. civilian personnel. (Foreign Exchange students are excluded.)

Students in 7th  and 8th grades may participate in the Patriot's Pen (Youth Essay) Contest...
click here for information!

WHAT ARE THE PRIZES?

You have the opportunity to compete for National scholarships totaling over $139,500. The First Place National Winner receives a $25,000 scholarship. Each Department (state) first place winner receives an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. Five fun-filled days of tours, theaters, visits to monuments, meeting with heads of state and often the President or Vice-President of the United States. The National Judging is held in Washington, D.C. prior to the students' arrival and the winners are announced at a special reception in their honor.

In addition, the American Academy of Achievement normally invites each Department winner to the Salute to Excellence Program and Banquet of the Golden Plate held each May or June at a selected site. Past Academies have been held in such places as New York City, Chicago, Las Vegas, etc. VFW sponsorship is arranged for all students by their respective Departments (State); with the National Headquarters sponsoring the first place National winner.

All National scholarships are paid directly to the American university, American college or vocational/technical school as selected by the recipient. All scholarship moneys are held in escrow (for a minimum of ten years) at National Headquarters and disbursed as needed until the scholarship is totally withdrawn. The funds may be used for tuition, books, laboratory fees and/or other items relating specifically to the student's formal education. (Clothing, room and board and pocket money are not considered authorized expenditures.)

Numerous opportunities also exist to win valuable scholarships and awards at each level of the competition. Most VFW Post/Auxiliaries offer various recognition's to program participants who place in their local school competition.

WHERE DOES A STUDENT GO TO APPLY?

Ask an interested teacher or counselor at your high school to contact the local VFW Post in your community and ask for the telephone number of their Voice of Democracy Chairman or call (or write) your State headquarters and ask for a sponsoring Post.

The program is conducted each fall and any interested student should encourage their school to take part in the competition Ask someone to contact the nearest Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in your local community and get full details on their local contest The competition must be sponsored by a VFW Post. Full cooperation between the Post and your school is vital to a successful competition.

DEADLINE FOR ENTERING THE COMPETITION IS NOVEMBER 1st
Any entry submitted directly to National VFW Headquarters will be returned to sender.

WHAT IS ACTUALLY REQUIRED OF A PARTICIPANT?

All eligible students will be judged on their interpretation of the program theme. A positive approach should be used to express the entrant's viewpoint. The theme is "America's Role For The Next Century". The finished written essay should not take less than three minutes nor longer than five minutes when recorded on a cassette tape.

Delivery should be on a good-quality cassette tape and done in a natural style. Voice tone should be normal and conversational. The essay should be spoken in English. NO BACKGROUND MUSIC, SINGING OR OTHER ENHANCEMENT ALLOWED. (When preparing and presenting the final written and recorded essay, care must be taken not to identify themselves, their city, state or school.)

It is recommended that all essays be recorded on good-quality cassettes. Participants should be encouraged to record their essays using professional equipment that is often made available as a public service by local community-based radio stations. The recorded essay must not be less than three minutes nor more than five minutes.

HOW ARE THE AUDIO ESSAYS JUDGED?

All participants should be judged by listening to the cassette tape submitted by the student. This program is not intended to be a speech competition and judges should not require a participant to give an oral/personal presentation. All entries should be judged on the quality of the tape-recorded message. Point values (maximum 100 points) are assigned as follows:

Delivery = 20 points        Originality = 40 points        Content = 40 points

WHAT ARE THE CONTEST RULES?

• Adults (over the age of 19) are not eligible to compete.
• Former first place Department (state) winners are not eligible to compete.
• The recorded essay must not be less than three minutes, nor longer than five minutes. (Care should be taken to ensure that recordings are accurately timed. A five-second variation is acceptable to compensate for possible differences in mechanical equipment.)
• The recorded essay must be recorded in the participant's own voice (contact us for disability exceptions). The essay read by the student should be the only sound on the cassette tape. Delivery should be in a natural style. Voice should be normal and conversational ... not oratorical. The essay must be spoken ... not sung and no background sounds (to include music) will be allowed.
• Participants cannot identify themselves, their school, city or state in their essay or their audio cassette tape.
• Essay must be contestant's original work and a product of the contestants own thinking. The approach to the theme should be positive and focus on the theme. Quotations may be used sparingly if plainly identified wherever used.
• All entries should be submitted on good-quality audio cassette tape. The participant can re-record their essay as many times as needed throughout the levels of competition to improve the audio quality, as long as they follow their original winning essay ... this allows for the improvement of noisy or inferior recordings. Grammatical changes are allowed as long as the original message is not changed or altered.
• Local jurisdictions should not impose additional rules, stipulations or requirements. The student winners should be judged, selected and advanced based only on their audio-essay.

WHO SPONSORS THE PROGRAM?

The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and its Ladies Auxiliary sponsor these programs. Essays are completed on a local level through a VFW Post. The competition then goes to the district, state, and national levels.

For more information, contact the VOD/Youth Post Chairman:

Teachers, PTA/PTO members, counselors, church groups... Please support this program and get your local students involved!

You may see full details and a scholarship listing at the National VFW web site.
See Voice of Democracy for past winners and student handbook at VFW Headquarters.