Weston’s VoD Essay takes second in State

Carleen Wild
Posted 3/21/23

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Weston’s VoD Essay takes second in State

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A Moody County High School Senior is being recognized for the essay that she wrote for the annual Voice of Democracy contest. Arianna Weston recently learned that her piece won not only at the local, district and regional levels, it was also voted second in the state.
Weston says that her grandfather, Everett Weston, was the inspiration behind her words.
“He is a Vietnam veteran, and I tried to include statistics around Vietnam veterans because of this. He helped me pick out topics for my essay, so I owe my success to him,” she said.
Each year for Government class the seniors at Flandreau take part in the Voice of Democracy contest sponsored by the Local and National VFW Organizations. This year’s prompt was, “Why is the Veteran Important” according to instructor Blake Savey.

“She has great writing ability and deserves all of the credit; I simply gave her the assignment and guidelines! I hope that this serves as a great example to our future seniors at Flandreau as they continue to enter papers for the Voice of Democracy contest,” Savey said.
Weston focused on the commitment of our military to service and the sacrifices they make in turn — missing the birth of a child, a special anniversary, or other big family events.
“Giving up their family, health, and time for the preservation of our own lives is a difficult thing to do. Every experience we willfully have is because of the service of our military. We’re so caught up in our lives, we never stop and appreciate the people who have ensured the ability of choice to us. It is because of them we have the freedom to express our unique beliefs and opinions. Their service has made it possible for us to live the way we want to. That is why honoring our veterans shouldn’t happen on just November 11th, but every single day. Veterans contribute their lives for our own, and that is the greatest sacrifice someone can make,” she wrote.
Weston received a scholarship from the Flandreau VFW, Savey said that he believed more will be awarded more by the state. Only the first place winner moves on to the national competition. Weston said that she hopes to do more writing and perhaps enter more competitions in the future. In the meantime, she wants to thank Mr. Savey and Randy Tollefson “for this incredible opportunity.”