Many people would be surprised to find just how much the Constitution means to area elementary students.

Demarcus Sankey was one of four winners of the Pike County Republican Women’s “What the Constitution Means to Me” contest held earlier this year.

Sankey, now a sixth-grader at Goshen Elementary School, said he wrote about the different freedoms the country’s governing document allowed him to have, including freedom of speech.

“I wrote about freedom of speech, freedom of the press and another freedom we need to have,” Sankey said. “I like freedom of speech because I am free and I am available to talk to anybody and any person that I want to and I can write what I want to on paper.”

Sankey said his fifth-grader teacher had spent much of the year teaching her students about the Civil War, but during his teacher’s lessons on the Constitution, Sankey said he learned the most.

“We learned a lot about the Civil War, because we did that all year,” Sankey said. “When we talked about the Constitution, we learned why the government is important. It’s important because it enforces the laws that you have to obey.”

Sankey said he enjoyed learning about the Constitution and it would sadden him if he ever found out that his right to free speech had been taken away.

“It would make me really sad because that would mean I couldn’t communicate with other people and mingle and know people,” Sankey said. “I talk about things all the time. I talk about everything.”

Four students were chosen as winners in PCRW’s contest with two winners coming from Troy City Schools and Pike Liberal Arts and the other two coming from Pike County Schools. The first place winners of the contest received a $50 gift card from Troy Bank & Trust while the second place winners received $25 gift cards. All four winners will be featured on Troy Bank & Trust’s fall billboards.

Winners were determined anonymously through a blind-scoring system. Judges scored essays based on a numbering system with no prior knowledge of the writers. PCRW President Ginny Hamm said students were not judged on their writing style on grammar, but instead simply on their idea and opinion of what the Constitution meant to them as American citizens and how well they were able to convey that message to judges.

“It means a lot to me that I was able to win the contest,” Sankey said. “I am proud and I am excited.”