(Beaver Dam) The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1163 announced the 2025 Voice of Democracy Scholarship contest award winners.
Pictured are Quartermaster Keith Lauth; Wyatt Stowell—4th place; Isabel Lehner—3rd Place; Charlee Wieneke—1st Place; Jacob Gemmel—2nd Place; VFW Commander & Contest Chair Curt Gruenewald.
“The Voice of Democracy competition provides high school students with the opportunity to speak out on freedom and democracy,” says Commander Curt Gruenewald. “The program has been popular and successful since its beginning in 1947, and we’re proud to keep offering it to local area high school students.”
The Voice of Democracy is a worldwide audio competition that requires entrants to write and record a three-to-five-minute essay on a patriotic-based theme. This year’s theme was “Is America Today Our Forefathers’ Vision?”
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) started the Voice of Democracy Scholarship program in 1947. The VFW became a national sponsor in the late 1950s and assumed sole responsibility for the program in 1961. The competition was created to provide students grades 9-12 the opportunity to express themselves in regard to democratic ideas and principles. Around 27,000 students participate in the competition each year and VFW awards more than $2.1 million in scholarships.
