Special to The Hays Daily News

BELOIT -- Brady True is considered a top-notch student, person and son, and after this past fall, the Veterans of Foreign Wars has tagged him as among the best at writing and presenting speeches.

The senior at Beloit Junior-Senior High School won the Kansas Voice of Democracy contest on the local, district and state levels, and he'll compete March 2 for a $30,000 scholarship at nationals in Washington.

True is the son of Darren and Lori True, Beloit, and the grandson of Verlin and Carol Armbrister, Ellis, and Neal and Ruth True, Downs.

The third-place winner at state was Nicole Hendrich, Goodland.

In the contest sponsored by the VFW and the Ladies Auxiliary, competitors were told to write an essay answering the question "Is There Pride in Serving our Military?" and present it in a 3- to 5-minute speech.

"His speech was extremely well done, as good as I've ever seen," said Joe Duntz, a counselor at the high school.

True concluded in his speech pride is "alive and well in all of us."

"He presented it extremely well. The information was fantastic in regard to the topic," Duntz said. "He's just an excellent student."

True, 18, won the local competition in early November. Next, he won the district level, and then the state title. Every speech was submitted in a tape-recorded version to be judged, and the winner at district and state presented the speech.

"I think he'll do real good in Washington," said Bob Petterson, the state Voice of Democracy chairman and a member of the Beloit VFW Post No. 6242. Petterson has been involved with the contest for about 20 years, both on the district and state levels.

"I consider that one of the better speeches I've heard since I've been doing it," Petterson sad. "He did an outstanding job."

True already has won $1,500 to use for his education and he's guaranteed a minimum of $1,000 for competing at nationals, Petterson said.

Planning to attend Kansas State University this fall and major in pre-medicine, True could use every penny.

His father, Darren, is the radiology director and his mother, Lori, is a registered nurse and respiratory therapist at Mitchell County Hospital Health Systems.

To prepare for a career in health care, Brady True works as a nurse's aide at the hospital.

"He's a great kid, a great student," his father said.

True has been president of his class the past three years, and a student council member four years.

"He's active in everything, in school and out," Darren True said.

Regarding his speech, Dad said, "I think he did a great job."

True's speech can be found online at www.hdnews.net.