Chester County Chapter of DAR announces essay winners
The Chester County Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution announced its 202324 winners of the “American History” and the “Patriots of the American Revolution” essays contest.
Each year, nationwide, students in grades fifth through eighth are given the opportunity to compose an essay and have it presented through their schools for evaluation. Judging is based on historical accuracy, adherence to the topic, organization of material, interest, originality, spelling, grammar, punctuation, neatness, and that the essay is the student’s own work.
This year’s topic was John Phillip Sousa. On May 14, 1897, John Philip Sousa played his new march, “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” This song would become the national march of the United States on December 11, 1987. The students were told to imagine it was 1897 and they were a newspaper reporter for “The Philadelphia Times.” Their newspaper editor had asked them to write an article about the song being performed that day. The article needed to tell us about Sousa’s life and the story behind the song. It was the first performance of the song, so they needed to make sure their article included their thoughts about the music and how the audience reacted to what was seen and heard that day.
“Patriots of the American Revolution” is for high school students. The topic each year is the same. Select a figure from the era of the American Revolution (1773-1783). Discuss how he or she influenced the course of the American Revolution, who he or she was and his/her contribution to the founding of a new nation. Your figure may be any person, whether a well-known figure or an everyday man, woman or child who supported the American Revolution in ways large or small. The evaluation criteria are the same as the American History Essays contest.
Recipients of the awards are:
• Lucas Yates, a sixth grader at the Unionville-Chadds Ford Virtual
Learning Academy
• Lillianna Yates, an eighth grade at Charles F. Middle School, Unionville-Chadds Ford
• Aparna Chaurasia, of
B. Reed Henderson, West Chester
For their achievements, each of the chapter recipients received a certificate, a medal and a monetary
award from the local chair Elberta Clinton. She introduced each student with details about each, prior to their reading their essays. It was interesting to learn that all three students play the piano and are history lovers.
In addition to the proud parents and one set of grandparents, attending were Mark Slider, supervisor of online learning from the Chester County Intermediate Unit, Shannon Brown, supervisor for online learning of Unionville-Chadds Ford School District, and from B. Reed Henderson High School of West Chester: Ashley Sullivan, guidance counselor. Steve Grabicki of State Sen. John Kane’s office and Ethan Shaffer and Ashley Scott, representing State Sen. Carolyn Comitta, presented the students with certificates of recognition.
The National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a non-profit, non-political service organization that honors both men and women whose sacrifices made our country free. Members are direct descendants of a Patriot who furthered the cause for American independence. They may have fought, swore an oath to the new nation or provided supplies/financial support.