American Patriotism Abounds at East Shoreline Catholic Academy

Seventh Grade student Nathaniel Kerr was selected as the State winner for the VFW Patriots Pen Essay Contest, “Why I Honor the American Flag”, on Sunday, January 13th at the Sheraton Hotel in Rocky Hill at the VFW Voice of Democracy & Patriot's Pen Annual Awards Dinner. Nathaniel and fellow East Shoreline Catholic Academy classmates had written and submitted their essays at the local level to VFW Post 7666 in Guilford at the end of October. Kerr won, and was invited as an honorary guest during the Voice of Democracy and Patriots Pen Awards Ceremony luncheon on Sunday, December 9th. Since winning the local and district 2 levels and state level, Nathaniel's essay has moved on to compete at the national level.

Each year more than 125,000 students in grades 6-8 enter the VFW’s Patriot’s Pen youth essay contest. The first-place winner from each state competes for national awards totaling $50,000, with each first-place state winner receiving a minimum of $500 at the national level. The national first-place winner wins $5,000 and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., in March.

The essay contest encourages young minds to examine America’s history, along with their own experiences in modern American society, by drafting a 300- to 400-word essay, expressing their views based on a patriotic theme chosen yearly by the VFW Commander-in-Chief.

We are so proud of the patriotism demonstrated by Nathaniel, and of all our students. Below is a quote from Nathaniel’s award winning essay, and quotes from his fellow students who competed in the VFW Patriots Pen Essay Contest.

“The American flag represents not only our nation. It represents the people of America, people of different races, religions and belief systems who came together to live as one. The flag is a humble reminder that we owe this flag our commitment to work together respectfully to provide a fair, free and just life for all Americans.”

– Nathaniel T. Kerr, Gr. 7

“The American flag is a symbol of bravery, honor, love, and growth.” –Mathew Ewing, Gr. 8

“Despite our differences, when we put our right hand over our hearts and turn to the stars and stripes of our flag we are all saluting for the same reasons. No matter our race, religion, or political differences we are all united under one name, American.” – Kailey Connelly, Gr. 8

“We all have different opinions on how to show respect for the flag, but the important part is we all are allowed to have differing opinions instead of government forcing one view.” – Maeve McConnell, Gr. 8

“I honor the American flag because it represents freedom, independence, and equality. If someone asked me ‘Why do you have so much faith in a piece of cloth’ I would tell him or her ‘that it represents a country where everyone belongs here’.” – Davin Garamella, Gr. 7

“If we didn’t have any of these freedoms, how would anything have been changed? How would we make a difference in this world? We the people are the flag.” – Margaret Theis, Gr. 7

“I honor the American flag because it signifies our history. It has been with us when we started off as a country.” – Joshua Joby, Gr. 8

“Even now our soldiers fight under this banner, fighting to protect our country.” – Sean Simonelli, Gr. 7

“Our veterans have done so much for our county, I respect it (them).” – Travis Le, Gr. 7

Another Seventh Grade student, Emillie Agamie, was selected to have her patriotic essay read at the Wreaths Across America ceremony that took place at the Branford Fire Dept. on Dec.11, 2018. This was one of the stops the Honor Convoy made throughout its journey transporting evergreen wreaths from Harrington, ME to Arlington National Cemetery, to fulfill their mission to “honor our veteran’s through the laying of wreaths on the graves of our country’s heroes.” Emillie had the honor of being asked to read her essay, and was honored to be asked to lead the ceremony with the Pledge of Allegiance. Additionally, our fife & drum corps and choir were invited to perform at this memorial ceremony. We are truly blessed to have so many patriotic and truly wonderful students at our academy.

"To me, being a patriot is not just watching what other people are doing for our country to preserve our freedom. It is acting upon what you believe and demonstrating it with respect and honor...We can do that by saying the pledge, putting our hands over our hearts, thanking a veteran, and never ‘taking a knee’.”

– Emillie Agamie, Gr. 7

Photo captions:

Pictured at the state: Veterans of Foreign Wars Dept. of CT Commander Jim Delancy, East Shoreline Catholic Academy Seventh Grade student Nathaniel Kerr (behind the podium), Voice of Democracy/Patriots Pen VFW Auxiliary Chairman Rose Angelicola & VFW Dept. of CT Auxiliary President Laura Allen. (photo courtesy of Dave Greene)

Pictured at Branford Fire Department:(left) Dottie Packer, NC, USN, retired, East Shoreline Catholic Academy Seventh Grade student Emillie Agamie (center) leads with the Pledge of Allegiance at the Wreaths Across America memorial ceremony, (right) Pamela Bold, HSC, USCG, retired (has served 3 branches of the military). (photo courtesy of Deb Schwall)