(Provided photo) The VFW Post 4624 representatives with the 51 student participants, LLH Superintendent Brad Codere, middle school English teacher Heather French, and high school English teacher Jessica Klein.

Every year, the VFW holds an essay contest for middle school students, called the Patriot’s Pen, and for high school students, the Voice of Democracy. These contests encourage students to express their patriotism by giving a prompt that asks students to focus on the positives of our country, their role in our society, and how they can strive to make our country a better place.

The local VFW, Post 4624 of Hubbell, hosted this year’s competition for Lake Linden-Hubbell Schools. In total, 47 students from grades 7-8 submitted essays for the Patriot’s Pen, and 4 high school students submitted works for the Voice of Democracy. Both high school and middle school students were asked to write about “What Makes America Great?” All 51 participating students received certificates and pins. Three winners were selected for each division, receiving monetary awards. For middle school, third place was Clara Colombe, second place Gabby VanNorman, and first place Marissa Sullivan. For high school, third place was Kaitlyn Baccus, second place Jamie Hendrickson, and first place Alyssa Burton. Alyssa’s essay continues on for further competition in the state.

Lake Linden-Hubbell Schools thanks Jim Huovinen, Frank Ozanich, Judy Chizek, Joe Finch, Dale Perrault, and Carl Deiro for providing this opportunity to the students.