The Ypsilanti Courier
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Honoring our 'Good Citizens'
Winners announced for Daughters of American Revolution annual Good Citizens award
PUBLISHED: February 14, 2008
Members of the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution recently announced winners of their annual Good Citizens program where local students compete for scholarship awards. A number of students participated, and the winners were boiled down to five based on high school interests, home and community relations, future plans, extra curricular activities and an essay contest. The following are reprints of the students essays. The awards were presented Feb. 3.
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Our American Heritage and Our Responsibility for Preserving It
By Abigail Brokos
Can you imagine hearing gunshots ringing outside of your window while you were trying to sleep at night?
I am sitting here in my United States history class while my teacher is talking about America in the 1700s.
I began to think about how different life would have been to grow up while the foundation of American History was being laid.
I can not imagine having to leave my nice home in England to sail all the way across the ocean in search of freedom.
To have to live in a dark, dirty boat for months before actually reaching America.
Then once we reach America, we have to build our own houses and make our food and clothing.
After all of this is accomplished, we have to fight for our freedom against England.
England was trying to tax us on all of our goods and take away our freedoms.
It took a war in which countless lives were lost to finally gain our freedom.
Our forefathers then took on the responsibility pf laying the foundation for our government.
They had to make sure that the government would not just last for a short time but that it would continue for years to come.
Now, as I look out our class window I realize how fortunate I am.
I could not imagine living in any country besides the United States but I still take so many of our freedoms for granted.
All of the freedoms that our country is based upon and thousands of men died trying to protect.
It is my responsibility to preserve our heritage because if I do not do it, no one will.
One thing that I can do proudly is fly the American flag high and to not allow other countries to come into America and fly their flag higher than the American flag.
Men died to give me this privilege so I should use it.
Many people take this for granted.
The other day I saw that a Mexican store was flying the Mexican flag higher than the American flag.
A veteran was walking by and cut down the American flag because he said they did not deserve the right to fly the flag anymore.
He risked his life fighting for them but then they disrespected him in this way.
Most Americans did not think the storeowners did anything wrong but flying the American flag is a right that can be taken away.
Another responsibility we have is to vote and use our freedom of speech.
Many men like Thomas Jefferson. James Madison and George Washington fought their whole lives so that we could have these rights.
If we do not use our rights we could lose them.
It has taken me 16 years to realize how fortunate I am.
Even though I have studied history for years I have never realized how much it affects me today.
How blessed am I to have grown up in a country like the United States of America.
Abigail Brokos is a student at Calvary Christian Academy in Ypsilanti
Our American Heritage and Our Responsibility for Preserving It
By Coleen Huling
Since the first settlers landed on American soil we have fought many wars to keep our freedoms and values we so dearly believe in. From the American Revolution to the war the on Iraq, we have shown we take pride in our believes. We feel it is our duty to share these believes with countries who don't have the same freedoms, values, and opportunities we have as Americans. I feel our American Heritage is our duty to fight for what we believe in, the freedoms set forth in the Constitution and Bill of Rights and that we are able to make something of ourselfs.
Wars are not the most ethical way to solve problems but as Americans we believe it is our duty to fight for what we believe in. We have proven over the many years and many wars that we not only fight for the freedom of Americans but also the freedom of other countries and people. In fighting for what we believe in we have shared our believes and values to all who seek the freedom of an American.
Our founding fathers created the Constitution and the Bill of Rights which gave us, the people, the power over the government. I feel this is a very important part of our heritage because it was the first government that gave common people power to vote for who and how they wanted to governed. It also gave us the many rights and freedoms that we take for granted.
The most important part of our heritage is the fact that we can make something of oueselfs. In America you can go from having nothing at all, to being C.E.O of a major corporation. Knowing we can make our lives better makes us work hard and build character to become better citizens. Many people from all around the world have come to America for bigger and better opportunities it provides. We always strive for the next best thing that we will improve our day-to-day life.
American Heritage is the importance of fighting for what you believe in, having freedom and values that can't be taken away and being able to make something of ourselfs. It is our responsibility to preserve these believes and values by defending our freedom. In order to keep our believes strong we must exercise our freedom every day. This enables us to speak out against wars or issues, vote for the next president, make something of ourselfs and the many other freedoms spelled out in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I once read the speech "Duty, Honor, Country," which really showed me the importance of American Heritage and our duty to protect our freedoms and better improve our lives and the lives of others.
Coleen Huling is a student at Lincoln High School in Ypsilanti
Our American Heritage and Our Responsibility for Preserving It
By Derrick Amison
For thousands of years, America has had great accomplishments from great people. Such great people include Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr. just to name some! Preserving our history is very important because if we as American citizens do not preserve our history, all of what great people who has made America what it is today will not be shared for future American citizens.
I believe that who ever you are, you must know and claim your history. It is important to me to know who has set the paths for to be the individual that I am today. So many of the younger generation today do not know their history and do not know how they got were they are today as American citizens.
The American heritage is very rich and intriguing. Great people did lots of events that have made America the best country in the world.
If it were not for those men who fought in the American Revolution this country would be unsuccessful then it is today.
Each and every American has a role to preserve our rich heritage. We can all be activists to save and keep our museums and to save important documents. I believe that our older generation should talk with the younger generation and share the history with them and encourage them to continue to share our history by passing it down from generation to generation.
One of the most important times in American history that I enjoy learning about is World War II. Today there are many veterans that are still living today. The generation of teenagers is the last generation to hear actual veterans. We as the young generation should interview these veterans and create documentaries so that we can show the future generation what occurred in the 1940s when America was at war.
If we cannot look forward to the future without looking back to the past how can we proceed into the future if we do not know what occurred in the past? I l believe that it is nearly impossible to do such things. So if we don't preserve our heritage our future America will not be able to progress.
I have chosen to pursue my dream of becoming a teacher and majoring in history. The reason why is because history is very important and it must not be taken lightly. History and heritage is what has made us today. We must not forget why we are Americans today and we got here. If our younger generation does not learn our history it can and will be lost. So there are my strategies to save our heritage such as; indicating the important history to the young people, establish many institutions so that we can learn more about America and know the American history and heritage ourselves.
We can write our elected official and ask them to mandate that American history be a part of all the U.S. high school graduation requirements and to make sure that there is at least some type of institution in each state that we can learn about the heritage.
Derrick Amison is a student at Ypsilanti High School
Our American Heritage and Our Responsibility for preserving it
By Lacey Jo Marcotte
The History of the United States began with Democratic leaders. Many things have changed over the years, but some things have stayed the same. Our country has kept a system, believing in two important ways of life which were discovered during the times the government was ran by Democrats. The two most important factors in the United States that will always be around are the Constitution and The Bill of rights. Maybe changes have been made to them since they were first created, and maybe they will be improved even more in the years to come, but no matter what, they will always be the foundation of our country. We can always add amendments to try to make our society better, but how will that keep the original heritage of the United States of America?
As citizens of America, it is our right to imbetter the country. How about the first Amber Alert, how was that originated? If the father of Amber did not take a stand to help missing kids and heartbroken parents, there would not be any Amber Alerts. As a citizen he was responsible to serve his country to make a positive change, so he did.
Many people are not big fans of any Kind of war, but it just has to happen. It is our responsibility to support the country and most important, the soldiers. The United States Army, The United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Air Force, and so on, all take sacrifices, risk their own lives, just to make sure America remains "free" and safe. The Vietnam War, the War in Iraq, World War I and II, the Civil War, and the Revolutionary War were fought to make sure the rights of the citizens of the United States are protected, and so the people remain safe. The freedoms of people are important and protecting them is very meaningful, the freedoms of citizens makes the United States what it is.
America is the big sibling of the most countries and many notice that. Our American Heritage involves us helping others when needed. America has set up all kinds of aids to help other countries less fortunate. Therefore, showing how proud we are to be an American and to be looked up to by most, is why we have to respect and responsibly show our true America traits.
Lacey Jo Marcotte is a student at Belleville High School
Our American Heritage and Our Responsbility for Preserving it
By Sarah Towler
I feel so blessed to be living ina country like ours. Despite what may think, America is like no other country in the world. We are fortunate enough to have ancestors who set great standards for us. They created this idea of the American Heritage which is full of values that we need to hold onto. Some of these values are family, free speech, opportunities and courtesness. I believe it is our responsbility to preserve our heritage.
I think that one of the most important parts of ou American heritage is family. Our ancestors really embraced family bonding. This is important and part of our lives because your family members cannot be replaced. A very imoprtant part of this bonding time is family dinners. This may be one of the only times in a day families can sit down together, look at one another and have a nice relaxing conversation.
Another part of family values includes respect for parents. This is a crucial part because whether we want to believe it or not, our parents have more life experience than we do. We can learn a great deal from them inlcuding how to be a leader in the family. Although, family values are important, I feel they are disappearing right before our eyes.
Another great part of our heritage is the ability to speak freely. Even if you are alone on how you stand, you can still say what you think. Our friend and family before us worked very hard so that we could have freedom of speech. It is impotyant that we cherish this right and preserve it for generations ahead. If we did not have this right, forward motion for America wold be limited.
Opportunities are endless here. There are no boundaries for what you can achieve when you live in America. I believe that anyone can accomplish anything they want if they put their mind to it. It just simply depends on how much you want it.
The only person who has the ability to stop you is you. In other countries, this may not be the case, so we should really take advantage of this and hold onto it tightly so that it is still that way in the future.
Along with family values, free speech and opportunities, our American heritage consists of just simply being kind and courteous. I think this idea is so important and it is one of my most important values for the way I run my life. The way that I try to achieve this value is by putting others before myself. Doing something kind for someone makes the world a better place because when you are kind and helpful to someone, it makes your day better.
I think being kind and courteous has a chain reaction and spreads so easily. Even if you are kind 100 times and only one of those times people acknowledge it, it is defintely worth it.
I think being kind and courteous is a value of the American heritage that is slipping through our fingers, and we need to be careful to preserve it.
The American heritage was created by our ancestors and consists of many traditions. Some of them are family, free speech, opportunities and courteousness. These ideas could easily be lost if we don't understand their importance.
All in all, the American heritage is percious and fragile. It is our responsibility to preserve it so that future generations can experience and enjoy the values we cherich today.
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