The Voice of Democracy Program is a National Audio/Essay Competition designed to give 10th, 11th and 12th grade high school students the opportunity to voice their opinion on their responsibility to our country. The Progam focuses on an annual patriotic theme; the 1997-98 theme was "My Voice in Our Democracy."
The Voice of Democracy Program began in 1964 and was originally sponsored by the National Association of Broadcasters. Initially, there were four winners selected, representing the North, South, East and West regions of our country. Each winner received a $500 dollar savings bond and a wrist watch. The second year of the program, a student by the name of Charles Kuralt, a popular (retired) television news broadcaster, was one of the winners. Other notable winners include Mariette Hartley, Anita Bryant and Senator John Ashcroft.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and its Ladies Auxiliary became involved in assisting the National Association of Broadcasters in the late 1950's and took over primary sponsorship in 1961. When the National Association of Broadcasters wanted to end the program, as they could no longer sponsor the program nationally, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, in partnership with the Ladies Auxiliary, took initiative and became the sole program sponsor. As a result of the cooperation our organization has received from high school teachers across the nation, the participation from our many public, private and parochial schools has steadily increased.
Because of the active program promotion and participation, the National scholarship funds have steadily increased from the four National winners in 1962, with total scholarships of $3,750 to our level of fifty-five National scholarships totaling in excess of $125,500.
The National Finals take place in Washington, D.C. when the finals judges listen to the fifty-four tapes representing the winners from each of our fifty states, the District of Columbia, Pacific Areas, Latin America/Carribean and Europe. The National judging lasts two days and follows the same basic guidelines used at local, District and State levels of competition.