Americanism Essay Contest Winners
For the past few school years our Lodge has participated in the Grand Lodge Americanism Essay contest.
We brought the contest to three middle schools in Indian River County at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year.
In February 2018, six local students were awarded gift certificates and American flags by our Lodge for their winning entries on the topic “Why Our Veterans are America’s Heroes.” They were the best essays among over 200 entries from the Indian River County School District.
Pictured with the winners are then Exalted Ruler Paul Diaz, PER, left and James McFadyen, Americanism Committee Chairman.
The winning entries were submitted to the District and State levels for judging.
One of our six finalists, a student from Oslo Middle School won first place in the Florida State Elks Association competition for 5th and 6th graders.
Our State Americanism Essay Contest winner in the 5th and 6th grade Division read her essay at the Florida State Elks Convention on Memorial Day Weekend in Orlando. Her picture and essay appeared in the Convention Program representing our Lodge.
Based on the tremendous success of the program in 2018, we have continued to participate in the contest every year. We usually award the winners gift cards at a ceremony at the Lodge with parents and teachers present.
We are ramping up now for the 2026 program. Our chairperson, Jan Ferguson, Esteemed Leading Knight, is contacting the Indian River School District leadership. She’s visited all public and private schools in Indian River County with applications and distributed them.
Judging will be in four divisions: fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades. This year’s theme is: Explain a Constitutional Right or Privilege and how it affects you and your family.
