Sarina LaCroix has top state of Maine Americanism essay

Sarina LaCroix

Vassalboro Community School (VCS) student Sarina LaCroix is the sixth-grade State of Maine winner of the annual Americanism Essay Contest sponsored by the Elks Club.

Becky Fisher, sixth-grade English and social studies teacher at VCS, said the theme of this year’s contest is “What the Bill of Rights Means to Me.”

VCS students entered through the Waterville Elks Lodge in December 2023. Fisher was notified in February that four VCS students’ essays were chosen for the state-level contest. Later, she learned that LaCroix had written what was judged the best sixth-grader’s essay in Maine.

The contest is divided into four levels, for grades five, six, seven and eight. Contest rules say each essay must be no longer than 300 words and must be “typed or legibly printed in ink” by the student.

Each local lodge sends its 12 winning essays, three from each grade level, to a District Americanism Chairman. The district chairman forwards 12 winning essays to the State Americanism Chairman, who chooses 12 state winners.

In addition, by March 31 the state chairman forwards the first-place essay from each grade level to the Grand Lodge Essay Contest Administrator, in Cullman, Alabama. National winners will be announced at the end of June.

LaCroix will attend the Maine Elks Club state convention in Augusta, on Saturday, May 4, where she will read her essay and be presented with a plaque, Fisher said.