Carolin Coad’s seventh-grade English class at North Idaho Christian School won big Thursday.

Almost one-third of her students were presented awards for the Veterans of Foreign Wars Patriot Pen essay contest at their school Thursday morning. The winning students had entered in the Post Falls and Sandpoint contests because there wasn't a Hayden competition.

This year’s competition for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders prompted student to write about “The America I Believe In.”

“I wanted to teach them the value of writing and I think it worked,” Coad said. “They realized their writing can be read, judged and respected by adults in the community.”

Coad’s class hosted local veterans who spoke about their war experiences to inspire the kids for the essay. The students asked questions and Coad said the visit increased their patriotism and awareness of those who have served the country.

“I wanted them to know that writing can be more than just writing something and stuffing it in your backpack and then probably throwing it away,” Coad said. “I think they realized that writing is important, because suddenly, the class has won $400 for it.”

The winners: • Post Falls first place — Blake Culpepper, $100 prize. • Post Falls third place — Joshua Nicholson, $50 prize. • Sandpoint first place — Julia DeJong, $100 prize. • Sandpoint second place — Paige Carmody, $75 prize. • Sandpoint third place — Brianna Priest, $50 prize. • Sandpoint fourth place — Ross Lindhorst, $25 prize.

The two first-place winners will move on to the district competition, where their essays will be judged against all the winners from North Idaho. Those result will be announced Dec. 10. The winning district essay writer will go to Boise for the state competition.