From staff reports
The Clarion Veterans of Foreign Wars is pleased to announce that Kiara Phillips, an eighth-grade student from Keystone High School, is the first-place winner of the VFW’s Patriot’s Pen youth essay contest for 2021-22.
Phillips wrote her winning essay based on this year’s theme, “How Can I Be A Good American?”
The second-place winner was Emily Pfaff and the third-place winner was Ryleigh Dittman, both are also eighth-grade students at Keystone High School.
The VFW enacted the Patriot’s Pen youth essay competition 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.
There were 38 entries submitted to Clarion VFW this year. All Clarion County schools are included at the local level. Phillips and Pfaff will have their essays forwarded to the district level for further competition.
There, they will have the opportunity to move on to the state and national level for individual awards ranging from $500 to $5,000.