Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2952 presented scholarships to seven Springdale Public Schools students Feb. 9 at an awards ceremony and dinner at the Springdale post.
The scholarships were funded through the VFW's annual Patriot's Pen essay and Voices of Democracy audio scholarship programs, according to retired U.S. Navy veteran Michael Schutz, VFW Post 2982 commander.
Seven of nine scholarship recipients attend Springdale Schools.
The VFW Post 2952 scholarship recipients are:
Patriot’s Pen
- Addeline Balk, Central Junior High School
- Ava Ponce, Southwest Junior High School
- Kaelynn Mitchell, Central Junior High School
Voices of Democracy
- Zachary Gardner, Fayetteville High School
- Meredith Doshier, Har-Ber High School
- Annabeth Jones, Central Junior High School
"We were able to forward the post's top three essays in Patriot’s Pen and top three essays in Voices of Democracy, plus another three essays in each category to District #1," Schutz said. "The district then selected one essay from all the VFWs in the district and forwarded them to state."
The VFW District 1 scholarship recipients are:
Patriot’s Pen
- Romiana Jorkan, Central Junior High School
- Landon Collier Pavlik, Don Tyson School of Innovation
Voice of Democracy
- Zachary T. Gardner, Fayetteville High School
None of Post 2952's local winners made it to state, Schutz said, adding about 200 overall students submitted entries for the post's essay contests.
*Ava Ponce was competing with Southwest's soccer team and was unable to attend the ceremony.
