Recognizing patriotic students and their essays

The Van Ells-Schanen American Legion Auxiliary Unit 82 recently recognized students whose essays on the theme “What does freedom mean to me” won local and state awards. They include (front row, from left) Jocelyn Salaiman, a seventh-grader at Thomas Jefferson Middle School who received third place; Emily Rosinski, a third-grader at Dunwiddie Elementary who took second place; Finley Tetschlag, a fourth-grader at Dunwiddie who earned fourth place; Henry Camp, a fifth-grader at T.J. who took second place; (second row) Kaitlyn Johnson, a Dunwiddie fourth-grader who took first place locally and fifth at the state level; Jack Egan, a fifth-grader at T.J. who took first locally and at state and will compete at nationals; (back row) Legion Auxiliary Americanism Chairman Tina Moch; Sophie Newell, an eighth-grader at T.J. who took second place; Sonya Nikolai, an eighth-grader at T.J. who took first place locally and second at state; and Auxiliary President and State Americanism Chairman Diane Burkhalter.                  Photo by Sam Arendt