Having originated in 1947, the voice of democracy program is a program created to allow highschoolers to express their democratic and patriotic standpoints and the opportunity to win a plethora of scholarships in the process. A total of 25,000 people across America enter this audio-essay contest in hopes of winning the grand $30,000 scholarship and several other scholarships.

The 2021- 2022 theme was “America: Where do we go from here?”. Wylie’s very own Allison McCall took an interesting approach to this prompt. Having coined the term “America is Beautiful” as one that should invoke “sentimental feelings and pride in one’s country”, but failing to do so in recent times. McCall states that current day America is being overtaken by the ever growing issue of decision. Inspired by the recent pandemic, she saw that our country could be brought together regardless of race, gender, religion, etc…. This concept of “unity and the power it has to shape our country into a place of acceptance” provided an inspiring base to build upon. 

Going into the contest, McCall had low expectations having taken a bold stance on the subject. However, fighting for the largely underrepresented minorities, McCall has written a phenomenal essay winning her first place in the first round of this nation wide essay contest. An award was presented by the local VFW chapter and VFW a Guild of $1,300.

Sources:

https://www.vfw.org/community/youth-and-education/youth-scholarships

Photo courtesy of Karla McCall