A Lincoln-Way West freshman, Raymundo Muro, Jr. has earned the 18th District Championship and ranks 13th in the state of Illinois for his VFW Illinois Voice of Democracy essay.
Raymundo, as the 18th District Champion, received a $300 check from the VFW at their State Voice of Democracy Awards Banquet on Saturday, February 11 in Springfield. He represented the local New Lenox VFW
Post 9545.
Raymundo won at the school level, the regional level and became district champion. He is the student of Michelle Schiller in her English I Honors class at Lincoln-Way West.
“When I received the news I had won the regional and division championship, I didn’t believe it. I said to myself, ‘This is not happening.’ I was very excited,” noted Raymundo.
The essay theme was “Is There Pride in Serving in our Military?” In Raymundo’s essay he writes that people serving in the military are sacrificing for us citizens right now, so we can be safe and happy. He makes the point of saying that he believes that once a person is in the service of our country, they are never again just a civilian, they are always a veteran.
“Raymundo is an amazingly gifted writer; one of the best I have had in my 18 years of teaching. He has an eloquent style and command of the language that you don’t typically see in a freshman writer,” noted Michelle Schiller, his English I Honors teacher.
Raymundo was the only freshman division champion and state ranked winner at the Voice of Democracy Awards Banquet. The banquet was held at the Crown Plaza in Springfield. Student winners were taken on a tour of the State Capitol and a tour of the President Abraham Lincoln National Museum before the banquet.
Raymundo said he would be entering the contest next year. He has already looked up the theme of the essay and noted he will be working on his essay this summer.
Since 1947, the Voice of Democracy has been the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) premier scholarship program. Each year more than 100,000 high school students compete for more than $2.5 million in scholarships and incentives. Students compete by writing and recording a broadcast script on an annual patriotic theme. Students write their essays, then record them on CD’s for competition.
