Mantua – “Congrats to CHS’s Zoe Simmons for earning High Honors on the American Legion’s Americanism & Government Test.” tweeted Crestwood High School Principal Dave McMahon. “Zoe will receive an all-expenses paid trip to Washington DC and Gettysburg, PA as one of 18 delegates from Ohio, along with other scholarships. Proud of you, Zoe!” McMahon beamed.
Now in its 54th year of operation, the Americanism and Legionnaires of Ohio created Government Test Program of the Ohio American Legion in 1936. The program is a partnership with the Ohio American Legion Auxiliary, and is open to students in grades 10, 11, and 12. On average, over 65,000 students participate in the test program annually.
The test is comprised of 50 true/false, multiple choice, and fill-in the blank questions that are current and topical to events, studies, and information being presented in Ohio high schools and events happening in the state of Ohio and the nation. In addition, students are to complete a 300-word essay, where every student writes on the same essay topic.
A feature of the Americanism and Government Test is that the students themselves do not advance in the competition, only the student’s test paper does. The test is not designed to have students compete against each other, it’s designed to test an individual student’s knowledge on a variety of topics. Topics include the United States flag, the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, as well as government at the state, county,city, township, and village levels.
Unbeknown to students, their test scores and papers a put through a number of judging levels in order to select post, county, and district winners. Throughout that process, the initial field of 65,000 students is narrowed to 84 district winners, whose winning test papers are submitted to a state judging committee for this program. From the field of 84 district winners, the state judging committee selects 18 winners — six from each grade level. One of only three female 10th graders from across the state, Zoe Simmons, a sophomore at Crestwood High School, scored one of the highest scores on the statewide test given in the fall of 2018. As such, Zoe has been awarded a trip to Washington DC and Gettysburg representing American Legion Post 193 of Mantua and her school.
The State Award includes a five 5-day, all expenses paid trip to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C. during the first week of March. The trip will take place under the direction of the Department Americanism Director, accompanied by representatives of the Ohio American Legion and Ohio American Legion Auxiliary. During the trip, the group will participate in the time-honored ceremony of wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery, a proud tradition that the Ohio American Legion and Ohio American Legion Auxiliary have continued in every year since 1936. During their trip, the group has plans to visit to the Capitol Building and tentatively plans a trip to Quantico, the active Marine Corps base and FBI Training Academy. In addition, the group has plans to visit monuments and memorials, including the Air Force Memorial, American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Pentagon Memorial, World War 2 Memorial, the Vietnam Wall, FDR Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, MLK Jr. Memorial, Ford’s Theater, Holocaust Memorial, Marine Corps Museum, and several Smithsonian Museums.
Through this program, the Ohio American Legion hopes to inspire young adults to learn more about government, the United States, and to appreciate the freedoms enjoyed by the nation’s citizens. The Americanism and Government Test program is unique to the national America Legion organization and only takes place in two other states. And while Indiana and Wisconsin have versions of this program which both adapted from the Ohio American Legion, neither program is the size or scope of the Ohio program. For more information, visit www.ohiolegion.com.
