The Rebecca Emery Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution recently honored four York County students at Atria Senior Living in Kennebunk for winning the chapter’s American History Contest. The students read their essays at the event, received awards and gathered with family, friends, guests and DAR members for a luncheon and silver tea.

The essay topic was on the Stamp Act. March 22, 2015, marked the 250th anniversary of the Stamp Act. Passed by the British Parliament in 1765, the new tax required all colonists to pay a tax on every printed piece of paper they used and, therefore, many colonists viewed the Stamp Act as “taxation without representation.” The contest required students to describe a colonial family’s discussion about the new Stamp Act and what role it played in organizing the colonists against the British king and Parliament.T he essays required a length of 300 to 1,000 words, depending on grade level, and were judged on historical accuracy, originality, spelling and grammar. Each student participant received a certificate of participation from the Rebecca Emery Chapter, and the chapter winners received bronze medals, certificates and monetary gift cards. Sophia Tanguay, a student at Waterboro Elementary School, was selected as the fifth-grade essay winner, while sixth-grader Emily Ireland, seventh-grader Sarah Bouley and eighth-grader Jeffrey Fosgate, all from Massabesic Middle School, were chosen for their respective classes.

Pictured from left are: Rebecca Emery Chapter Historian of the Daughters of the American Revolution Leigh Rush Olson, Jeffrey Fosgatem, Sarah Bouley and Emily Ireland, all of Massabesic Middle School and Massebesic Middle School, Sophia Tanguay of Waterboro Elementary School and Chapter Regent Helen Newton.