Clemens High School students (from left) Lindsay Hillhouse, Brandi Clark and Benjamin Laurence earned scholarships in a recent VFW essay contest.

The following juniors swept the top three awards: Lindsay Hillhouse (left), third place, earned a $200 scholarship; Benjamin Laurence, second place, earned a $300 scholarship; and Brandi Clark (center), first place, earned a $500 scholarship.

The VFW post commander, along with the competition chairman, presented them with their awards Dec. 12 at the campus counseling office.

The competition required the students to write an essay on the topic “My Role in Honoring America’s Veter-ans,” and then record the speech on either a cassette or CD for submission with their essay. The time requirement for the oral component was three to five minutes.