On Tuesday, Nov. 11, Emma Gallop, a senior at Houlton High School, was chosen the winner of a statewide essay contest related to the topic “What Freedom Means to Me After Interviewing a Veteran.”
Gallop, along with her classmates, toured Coles Transportation Museum in Bangor on Sept. 11. While they were there, students interviewed several veterans. Upon returning, the class was given an essay assignment in English class.
Last year, 5,000 students visited the museum and wrote essays. Three essays from each school were submitted and judged. Gallop’s took first place.
In her interview with a veteran named Edward Leonard, who served in the Vietnam War, she said, “We’ve studied wars in U.S. and world history class, but getting to listen to a veteran was incomparable. It was talking to a piece of history. The stories opened up my mind and heart to what they experienced while serving their country.”
Gallop also won an iPod mini, but topping her experience was reading her essay in front of veterans on Veterans Day, with her veteran beside her.
“It was worth more than anything money can buy,” she said.
