MENDOTA - Mendota VFW Post 4079 is pleased to announce its winners for the 2020 Voice of Democracy audio-essay (speech) competition.

This year’s winners are all Mendota High School students. They include:

1st Place: Mary E. DeFore, 12th grade

2nd Place: Liam P. McGann, 11th grade

3rd Place: Karliann B. Miars, 10th grade

All winners were presented with a certificate and the 1st place winner was awarded a $100 scholarship award prize and her audio-essay was forwarded to District 9 for the next level of competition, in which she competed against all other post winners within the district.

At the district level, Mary DeFore’s speech received 3rd place, and she was presented an award certificate and a $50 award prize. The 1st place district-level winner was from Chillicothe and 2nd place winner was from Marseilles.

Students from MHS and the surrounding area high schools were invited to participate. The Voice of Democracy annual theme this year was, “Is This the Country the Founders Envisioned?” and is acclaimed as a way for students to present their ideas, demonstrate their patriotism and receive awards for their work.

Additional information can be found at https://www.vfw.org/community/youth-and-education/youth-scholarships.