By Hannah Bute

The Voice of Democracy is an audio essay competition open to high school students across the United States. The Veterans of Foreign Wars judge the competition annually at local post levels. Then the winners are sent up through broader levels of competition until eventually they reach the national level, where the first place winner is awarded a $30,000 scholarship.

The Honors Government class at Flora High School, taught by Bryan Ridge, enters into the competition every year as part of a mandatory class assignment. And every year, he says, “I know someone from this class is going to win!” The theme for the 2013-2014 competition was “Why I’m Optimistic About Our Nation’s Future.” Each student wrote and recorded a speech on this topic, and Ridge sent the audio files to the local VFW. This year’s local post winners from Flora were Blake McWilliams and Malachi Raley, respectively. The reading was held at our local VFW. The district level competition was held again in Flora. McWilliams fell out of the top three, while Raley’s speech claimed first place. On February 7, Raley will head to Springfield, IL to be judged at the state level.

The first word of the district-winning speech was “pessimism.” Raley began his speech with a discussion on pessimism permeating our country. “People have false negative views about America,” Raley said. He believes America is a great country full of opportunity.

“I discussed history’s effect on America’s future,” he stated. “We made it through so many wars, I’m pretty sure we can make it through the little stuff now.” Raley went on to discuss America’s history of excellence, and our educational system’s ability to aid everyone. He also spoke a great deal about military service members and their contribution to our nation. All of these things add to his optimism regarding our country’s future. Raley would like to thank everyone who helped him make it all possible, from Ridge, who supported and urged everyone do their best, to Alicia Westjohn, who helped most of the seniors record their essays to CDs. “It’s thanks to all our brave service men and women that we enjoy the rights and privileges of free society,” he added. “I hope my essay represents the deep respect I have for all service members.”