For The White Street Journal —
Miss Elise Perry, daughter of Alan and Angela Perry of Rolesville, has been named the 1st place winner for the state of North Carolina in the 2021-22 annual Voice of Democracy Audio Essay contest sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars and its Auxiliary.
The competition is open to all high school students, who are required to present a 3 to 5 minute recorded spoken essay on a givenpatriotic-themed topic. This year’s topic was“America: Where Do We Go From Here?”.
This year, more than 65,000 total entries were received from across the country and several international locations.
Having already won at the local level with VFW Post 8466, Miss Perry’s essay then went on to judging at the regional level and again won 1st place.
The competition at the State level was between the first place winners from each of the State’s 17 VFW Districts.
Miss Perry’s award, including a $5,000 scholarship,was presented Saturday evening Feb 5 at the annual Awards Banquet of the VFWDepartment of North Carolina’s Mid-Winter Conference in Greensboro.
Miss Perry will now go on to compete with 51 other state and interrnational winners for additional scholarships, up to the top prize of $30,000.
Miss Perry is a senior at East Wake Academy in Zebulon and plans to attend Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania next Fall to study Environmental Science.
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