February 2021

The Spirit of America trip is an integral part of encouraging and spreading our message to Educate, Honor, and Challenge among our youth since it’s conception. This scholarship trip to Pennsylvania is a chance for students to explore and learn more about the foundations of our country and culture through lectures, tours of historical locations, and interactions with other students from across America. Due to the constantly fluctuating situation regarding COVID-19 however, this year’s trip will be held through a virtual curriculum. We aspire to give every student attending the SOA trip the full educational experience and guarantee of safety they deserve, Valley Forge’s closing and recent closures of many of Pennsylvania’s historical sights have caused us to make these changes to the schedule.

While the Spirit of America trip may be held through a virtual curriculum, the current plan is to hold the trip at a resort in Squaw Valley from April 22nd to April 25 so students can still have the opportunity to leave home and explore a new place as they go on an adventure. We will continue to accept applications for the trip until late January under a prompt that highlights the importance of private property in today’s society. We aim to ensure that every student has an enjoyable and educational experience and hopefully can carry out the many fun plans and projects in the making for the trip!

As we head into this new year we look forward to our second annual Constitution Bowl coming up on February 25th. This event will see students from the surrounding high schools compete to see who truly knows the Constitution. In order to promote students exercising their civic duty, questions have been revised and rewritten. Students can look forward to new questions that will require them to know how the constitution applies to real life. Another change from last year is the increased prize totals. The first place team will receive one-thousand dollars to be split between members and the school.

Due to concerns for public health, we will be hosting the event online this year, but we will be making every effort to ensure this event is of the same quality as last year’s. Last year Rocklin High School took the crown, can they continue their success in 2021, or will another team emerge victorious? Registration is still open, and we encourage any teams of at least three students to register for the event.

This year, the holidays were an important reminder to appreciate our family more than ever. Amid the pandemic and a sense of normalcy still seemingly far away, the one thing we can rely on and appreciate is our loved ones still with us.

One family who has stayed with the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge for a long time and has dedicated countless hours to serving its community is the Matthews family. Emily Matthews, our president-elect, will take up the position of chapter president in 2022, and her husband, Reed Matthews, is the treasurer for the Sacramento chapter. 

The Matthews’ passion for service was born just two years ago when Mr. and Mrs. Matthews served as chaperones for the Spirit of America Youth Leadership Program at Valley Forge, which their daughter attended. Since then, it has become a family tradition in their home to serve and always give back to their community.

“Two of our children have since served as student directors, and it has been a great blessing to our family to share that common goal to support and help with the goals of Freedoms Foundations,” Mrs. Matthews said. “Not only do we help remind each other of assignments we’ve taken, we work together to help create meaningful events, like the American Heritage Festival and the Constitution Bowl. It’s all hands on deck and we pitch in together to help these events happen! It has also opened a dialogue in our home to talk about the Constitution and its current role in our history, as well as discuss people who serve in our communities that we honor through our awards program, and how to get involved in community service.”

One of their sons, Ian Matthews, is a student director in the Sacramento chapter and is in charge of Freedoms Foundation Service Clubs. “My parents know about the trips and the amazing experiences that kids have when they go on the trips and help on the student board, so they encouraged me and my siblings to participate in these things,” he said. “I feel fortunate to be in a family that upholds the values of this country, and I am grateful for the importance of Freedoms Foundation in our lives.”

Today, it is so easy to get caught up in our busy lives and forget those values that have shaped our society in the first place: our duty to uphold our American heritage and freedom. There is no better way to carry out this role than teaching our own families the same democratic principles that have led our country for so long. 

And while New Year’s resolutions are hard to sustain, it should always be our goal to remind ourselves once in a while to be grateful for the people around us: those in our community as well as our loved ones. Mrs. Matthews is especially grateful for the opportunities the Freedoms Foundation has given to her family. “Our work together for Freedoms Foundation has brought a unity to our family and an increased love and appreciation for our country as we have served together.”

Every year Freedoms Foundation holds an essay contest for students grades kindergarten  through 12th grade to participate in for the opportunity to earn cash prizes. This year, the prompt  is "What happens when a community no longer respects private property?" For the elementary division, the prompt is simply, “How can we show respect for the property of others?” Claire Francois, who is in charge of the contest this year, said, “these are really great questions for students to be pondering, especially in the times we live in today.”

For 6-12th grade, the word limit is 500-1000 words, and for K-5th grade, the limit is 250-500 words. The last day to submit essays is January 31st and the winners will be announced in February. There will be three prizes for elementary school, middle school, and high school. We would like to encourage as many as possible to participate. Claire also said, “This is a great opportunity for students of all ages to use their voice and win a cash prize.”