Grace is pictured with fellow District 2 first place winner for the Patriots Pen Middle School contest, Daniel Johnson, a Grade 8 student at Gaudet Middle School in Middletown.

A senior from Rogers High School has taken the top spot in Rhode Island’s 2024-2025 Voice of Democracy contest, run by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW).

Grace Rochelle’s essay on “Is America Today Our Forefathers’ Vision?” won first place in the state competition. Her writing highlighted how democracy offers freedom and opportunity for everyone, no matter what their goals are.

Rochelle will now head to Washington, D.C., in March to represent Rhode Island in the national competition.

The VFW program gives high school students a chance to share their thoughts on democracy through essay writing. Each year, about 25,000 students across the country take part, competing for educational scholarships and other prizes.

The national winner gets a $35,000 scholarship.

Ryan Belmore is the owner and publisher of What's Up Newp. He took over the publication in 2012 and has grown it into a three-time Rhode Island Monthly Best Local News Blog (2018, 2019, 2020). He was named LION Publishers Member of the Year in 2020 and received the Dominique Award from the Arts & Cultural Society of Newport County the same year. He has been awarded grants for investigative and community journalism, and continues to coach and mentor new local news publications nationwide. Ryan...