West Valley junior wins national essay contest

PRIZE WINNER: West Valley junior Natalie McAuliffe won a plaque and $375 for writing an essay entitled, “What does an American Veteran mean to me?”

News came the first week of November that a local high school student was the nation's first-place winner in the AMVETS Americanism essay contest. Natalie McAuliffe, a junior at West Valley High School, placed first in the AMVETS Americanism Essay Contest for the 10th grade.

"We went to the convention a few weeks ago and normally they will announce the national winners of the essay contest; but they didn't this year, and we hadn't received a letter so we thought no one from our area had won," said Debbi Johnson, a member of AMVETS.

The committee was reading essays until the last week of October when they picked the winners, said Johnson. The committee sent out a letter to Leo Simon Post and Auxiliary members informing them McAuliffe placed first, and they presented her with a plaque and a $375 gift card later that week.

According to McAuliffe she entered the contest to receive extra credit for her English 10 Honors class her sophomore year, but did not realize she would go on to win some extra cash as well.

"I was really shocked. I have never won anything this big before," said McAuliffe.

According to Johnson, McAuliffe is the first student in the area to win nationally since they started participating in the program five years ago.

"We are really proud of her," said Karl Stemmler, principal at West Valley.

The theme McAuliffe wrote her essay to was: "What does an American Veteran mean to me?" She placed within the top three locally to move on to the state competition and then onto the national level.

Cash prizes were given at all levels of competition. In total, McAuliffe received $600 in winnings and a plaque honoring her achievement.