To read the winning essay, click here.

Our Flag, Brave and True!
By Stephen Bryan
(a fifth grade student at Immaculate Heart of Mary School, Richmond, NH)

Once a boy went to visit his grandpa and asked him, “Grandpa, why do you stand up when the flag goes by in a parade?”

“Because the flag is our nation’s symbol. It represents us. We planted a flag when we landed in Antarctica the first time. In 1969, the spacecraft Apollo landed on the moon, and we planted the American flag.”

The flag had undergone modifications over the years. At first, our flag was a red piece of cloth with a white asterisk lined with blue. This was called the Continental Colors in 1775-77. In 1777, the first official flag was founded at the Second Continental Congress with thirteen white stars in a field of blue. Also on the flag were seven red stripes and six white ones, which represented the thirteen colonies. As our country continued to grow, so did the flag. In 1955, the flag had forty-eight stars for the forty-eight states. Currently, it has fifty stars for our fifty states.

In our flag, the red represents hardiness and courage; the blue is for preservation and justice; and the white is for purity and innocence. Our flag has undergone wars and changes, but it will always be our flag to lead us on. Isn’t it a beautiful sight waving in the breeze?

First Place – $500 – Mr. Luke LaPlume, Richmond, NH

Second Place – Diamond Ring – Mr. Paul Thurston, Bumpass,VA

(Actually, the second prize was first won by the Sisters – someone wrote us on their ticket! – but Sister Marie Therese waived the prize and a new ticket was drawn.)

CONGRATULATIONS! A very BIG thank you to every one who bought tickets to support IHM School. Thank you also to our school families who sold tickets, especially the Bryans (who sold a total of 450 tickets!).