SMCHS Freshman Wins VFW Award

Santa Margarita Catholic High School freshman Kate Thomas sees the glass half full. Or maybe she sees it overflowing. That kind of optimism served the Mission Viejo girl well as she won first place in the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6024's Patriotic Audio Essay contest. 

She was recently presented a check and a certificate by VFW Post 6024 of Mission Viejo trustee Dick Vaughn as a reward for her winning entry. 

Thomas is now in the running for the State of California award and if she wins that she moves on to national competition and a chance at a $30,000 scholarship.

The VFW Patriotic Audio Essay Competition is an original 3-5 minute essay on a CD or in writing a broadcast script for this year’s theme, "Why I’m Optimistic About our Nation’s Future."  

Each year, more than 50,000 high school students compete for more than $2.3 million in scholarships and incentives. Prizes and scholarships are awarded at the local, district, state and national level. 

Department (State) winners receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., March 1-5, 2014, to tour the city, meet national leaders, be honored by the VFW and its Ladies Auxiliary and receive their portion of $152,000 in national awards, the top scholarship being $30,000.    

The Veterans of Foreign Wars was founded in 1899 as the American Veterans of Foreign Service. The VFW continues to be a voice for returning and currently deployed service members and their families. The 2.4 million members of the VFW and its Auxiliaries are located in 8,500 VFW posts around the world. The VFW is dedicated to supporting those who sacrifice so much for this country—veterans, service members in the US Armed Forces, and their families. 

To find out more about the VFW Post 6024, click here.