John Austin Earles, a senior at Siloam Springs High School, won the local, district and state Veterans of Foreign Wars Voice of Democracy audio-essay contest and is currently on his way home from the national competition in Washington, D.C.
Earles found out that he did not place in the top three nationally on Monday night, but he won a $1,000 scholarship from the Department of Nevada and Auxiliary. Even though Earles didn't place in the top three nationally, he said he felt honored to be one of the 54 national competitors, narrowed from a field of more than 47,000 entries.
"The experience has just been a blessing," Earles said. "It's been incredible to make it this far. (The national competitors are) the top .001 percent of speeches. To make it this far is just, wow!"
Earles' winning audio-essay can be heard at the following link: bit.ly/1zVrWVl.
The competition requires entrants to write an essay and then submit a recording of them reading the essay to be played for judges, according to Frank Lee, commander of Siloam Springs VFW Post 1674. Any student in grades nine through 12 can participate, whether they attend public school, private school or home school.
The national winner receives a $30,000 college scholarship. A total of $2.2 million in educational scholarships and incentives are awarded, according to the VFW website, www.vfw.org.
This year's theme was "Why Veterans Are Important to Our Nation's History and Future."
Earles was one of four local winners chosen by Post 1674. The other winners were Lydia Macfarlan, Summer Jackson and Samuel Youmans
Earles went on to win the District 1 competition. District 1 encompasses 11 VFW posts in Northwest Arkansas. His audio-essay then placed first at the state competition in Little Rock on Feb. 7. The state award included a $5,000 college scholarship and an all-expense-paid trip to the competition in Washington, D.C.
"I was excited that he placed in all three -- local, district and state," Lee said. "I was really impressed with his essay and with the four other students who did an excellent job. They're all to be commended."
Earles became interested in the Voice of Democracy competition after attending American Legion Boys State last year.
Earles has two family members who have served in the military; veterans are near and dear to his heart, he said. Earles' grandfather served in the Army as a Russian linguist and his brother currently serves as a linguist in the Air Force.
"Every veteran fought for freedom... so I can go to school every day and pray every day and speak my mind every day," Earles said. "For someone to give up their family or life and sacrifice so much -- it honesty means the absolute world to me."
Earles got involved with public speaking during his freshmen year while living in Washington. A senior mentor convinced him to join the debate team, promising travel and chances to get out of classes. At that time Earles didn't know he liked public speaking, but he quickly feel in love with it.
Earles was involved in competitions in Washington and continued to compete in speech and debate when he moved to Siloam Springs in January 2013. He especially likes impromptu speaking and sees speeches as a way to give others a voice.
During the national competition Earles said he has made friends from every state. Each student has a unique story and a different culture. He has especially enjoyed seeing how much respect for veterans means to other teens.
On Monday night, Earles said his favorite part of the trip up to that point was visiting George Washington's home at Mount Vernon. On Tuesday the national competitors were planning to visit the Lincoln Memorial, the National Mall and the U.S. Capitol.
"It's an experience of a lifetime and I honestly will never forget," Earles said.
Information about next year's Voice of Democracy audio essay contest will be available starting in April, Lee said. High-school-age students who are interested in participating in the competition should contact a post member or call Lee at 479-524-6785.
General News on 03/04/2015