Armed Services YMCA Announces 2019 Arts & Essay Contest Winners

WOODBRIDGE, Va., May 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Armed Services YMCA is excited to announce the winners of its annual Art & Essay Contest for military children.

Co-sponsored by GEICO Military, the contest is open to children of active duty or retired members of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard and National Guard/Reserves in grades 1 through 12.

Artists could choose from the topics My Military Family or My Day at the Armed Services YMCA for their works. Writers could choose How the Armed Services YMCA Has Helped Me or My Greatest Challenge as a Military Child Has Been... as the topic for their essay.

"The annual Armed Services YMCA Art & Essay contest is a compelling look into the lives of the children in military families," said William French, President/CEO of the Armed Services YMCA. "The entries showed how much love military children have for their families as well as the challenges these children face."

Many of this year's entries shared themes of moving away from friends, family and schools, the concerns associated with deployments of parents, and how these unique issues shape their childhood, but the greatest theme was the resilience of the military child.

According to the Department of Defense, military children move an average of six to nine times during a school career. The Armed Services YMCA Art & Essay Contest encourages military children to communicate their perspective through art and writing.

ART WINNERS

Army: Josey Corbin, grade 6

Marine Corps: Sophia Badillo, grade 6

Navy: Brooke Williams, grade 2

Air Force: Allison Cronan, grade 6

National Guard: Taryn Leonard, grade 4

ESSAY WINNERS 

John Kliethermes, grade 1-2 category

Lila Turner, grade 3-4 category

Grant Peterson, grade 5-6 category

Brayden Myers, grade 7-8 category

Shekinah Tung, grade 9-10 category

Marion Vesprey, grade 11-12 category

Armed Services YMCA is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit that serves active duty military members and their families. In 2017, we registered more than 250,000 participants and delivered more than 1.3 million points of services to junior enlisted Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Airmen, Coast Guardsmen and family members at 200 service centers in 18 states. Armed Services YMCA is a nonprofit with a mission: Strengthening Our Military Family. Visit our website to join us in supporting military families.

CONTACT
Chris Haley, Chief Marketing Officer
Armed Services YMCA
[email protected]
571-932-3212

SOURCE Armed Services YMCA

Related Links

https://www.asymca.org