Eighth grader with familial ties to Revolution wins essay contest

POST FALLS — It started with a daydream as Aylis Manley drifted off in science class and found herself in the kitchen of a generations-old farmhouse.

"As I looked around, my eyes focused on a man, a middle-aged man I immediately recognized as my long-deceased relative, John Hart," Aylis, 14, of Post Falls wrote in her essay, "Lunch with a Signer: John Hart." 

The River City Middle School eighth grader is this year's winner of the Daughters of the American Revolution Pleasantview Chapter's American History Essay Contest.

She was celebrated in class on Thursday, Feb. 12, as DAR Pleasantview Chapter Regent Trina Caudle presented her with a bronze medal, a certificate and a monetary prize.

"Her writing was not only exceptional, but with the personal connection to a relative, her story is just beautiful," Caudle said. "And that's really what our organization is about. It's to remember the Revolution, remember our ancestors who fought for us to be a nation and to remind people we have more in common than what separates us."

The essay topic was “A Lunch with a Signer of the Declaration of Independence." Students in grades five through eight throughout the Post Falls area, including public, private and homeschool students, were invited to participate and share their takes on what it would be like to share a meal with one of the Founding Fathers.

Aylis descends from Hart, a New Jersey delegate to the Continental Congress. The father of 13 was a farmer who played an important role in the Revolutionary War.

“He allowed George Washington’s troops to set up camp on his farm so that way they would have a safe place,” Aylis explained.

The young writer's piece peers through the lens of an ancestral memory, a transgenerational inheritance of experiences that shape a person's behaviors.

“Your DNA can kind of translate things," she said. "If you’re afraid of heights and you have no reason, it’s probably because one of your ancestors had a reason to be afraid of heights.

“An ancestral memory allowed me to talk directly to John Hart."

Aylis, who is interested in studying medicine, said she entered the essay contest because it sounded like something she would enjoy.

"I already enjoy writing, and I’m trying to write my book. Writers’ block is the worst thing on Earth,” she said. "This was something fun for me to do; I didn’t go in expecting to win, I just went for it because it seemed fun.” 

The runner-up of the contest was Aylis's classmate Hayden Farr, who wrote her essay about having lunch with Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. secretary of the treasury and a Founding Father, so famous that a popular Broadway show was made about his life.

Both essay winners are students in Nancy Hicks' honors English class. She said Aylis and Hayden were motivated to submit well-written pieces.

“It’s just such a great opportunity for them, and I love the way the DAR gives the perspective of a narrative so the student has to study the historical background,” Hicks said. "The DAR supports students in so many ways, it’s just a great organization."

Caudle said the American History Essay Contest is an exciting opportunity to get kids interested in history and interested in their country, especially as the nation celebrates its 250th birthday this year.

Aylis will advance to the state DAR essay contest, with the winner announced soon thereafter. If she wins, her essay may qualify her for the national competition, which has a March 15 deadline.

Info: dar.org

    Aylis Manley, an eighth grader at River City Middle School, discusses her essay on Thursday, Feb. 12. Aylis is the American History Essay Contest winner for the Pleasantview Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
  

    Eighth grader Hayden Farr receives an honorable mention certificate from Regent Trina Caudle during a Daughters of the American Revolution American History Essay Contest award presentation on Thursday at River City Middle School.