Photos courtesy of Leah Alliman

A student from Adel-DeSoto-Minburn Middle School recently won a state wide competition.

ADM Eighth Grader Peyton Giles was named the 2025 Department of Iowa Veterans of Foreign Wars Patriot’s Pen Essay contest winner. According to Eighth Grade U.S. History Teacher Leah Alliman, the theme of the contest was describing how do people have a voice in democracy, which Giles submitted his entry at the end of October. She states that Giles won the local contest, followed by the District Five Regional championships. 

Alliman elaborates that Giles was notified in January that he was awarded the top honor at the state level. With that accomplishment, Alliman says that Giles will now compete at the national championships in June for an opportunity to win $35,000 in scholarships going towards his selected college.