Kootenai freshman wins DAR essay contest, 20 classmates recognized

Kootenai Junior/Senior High School freshman Dani Davidson won top honors in the Lt. George Farragut Chapter’s Patriots of the American Revolution Essay Contest, earning a commemorative medal, certificate and $200 for her paper, Hamilton’s Revolution.

The awards were presented during a school assembly on April 10 by Regent Kathy Swanson, American History Chair Laurie Jaeger and retired Col. Lisa McLeod. Along with Davidson’s first-place finish, 20 other students were recognized for taking part in the contest, giving the school a broader win than a single individual award.

The essay competition is open to students in grades 9-12 and asks them to examine men and women involved in the events of the American Revolution from 1773 to 1783. Entries are judged on historical accuracy, organization and creativity, a standard that put the focus on research as much as writing. The chapter said it received a record number of submissions this year, and credited Kootenai history teacher Bruce Twitchell with helping drive that participation.

The contest fits into the Daughters of the American Revolution’s America 250 effort, which is tied to the United States’ 250th anniversary in July 2026. The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, founded in 1890, says it has more than one million members and is dedicated to historic preservation, education and patriotism.

For Kootenai County, the recognition also reflects the Lt. George Farragut Chapter’s steady local presence. The Coeur d’Alene-based chapter dedicated an America 250 Patriots Marker at Independence Point in Coeur d’Alene on Sept. 21, 2024, linking the essay contest to a wider series of anniversary events already underway in North Idaho. That combination of student writing, classroom support and community history work gave the assembly at Kootenai a clear sense of purpose: preparing the next generation to think seriously about the nation’s founding story.