By BOBBIE GREEN
The Progress
A local youth was awarded for winning the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Patriot’s Pen essay contest during a brief presentation held during a Mesquite city council meeting on Tuesday, May 28.
The Patriot’s Pen contest is held each year by community VFW posts all across the country. The winner is awarded with money from their local VFW Post. This makes the competitor eligible to go on and compete at the state level and sometimes even nationally. This year’s theme for the essays was “How you are inspired by America.”
Mesquite Veterans Center president Steve Reynolds presented the winnings to Hughes Middle School student Anexie Martinez. Her essay, at just under 500 words, won her $1,000.
Anexie’s essay also won at the Nevada state level competing with 600 other entries. She received an additional $750 from District and state levels.
Finally, Anexie’s essay competed in the national Patriot’s Pen contest and it placed at the #22 spot in the whole nation.
“I was excited about winning local and state,” Anexie said. “I will be competing again next year.”
Even though Anexie is on the debate team at school, she was a bit shy receiving the check at the council meeting. Her mother Karina Delgadillo expressed pride in her daughter.
Reynolds told The Progress that Anexie is also a very talented artist. She has sold one of her pieces at the Mesquite Fine Arts Center gallery for $100.
“I am so proud of her,” Delgadillo said. “She is a very determined young person and has many talents. Besides her writing and art skills, she also plays the guitar.
