Montessori School students Furthur Grimm and Charlotte Platt winners of 2026 program

By Chuck Gibson

LOVELAND, OH – (March 28, 2026) – On Saturday, March 21st the annual God, Flag & Country program first round of competition was held at Loveland’s Fraternal Order of Eagles Hall with Montessori School students Charlotte Platt and Furthur Grimm winning the right to move on to the next level of competition.

The program challenges students from the ages of 10-15 to prepare a three (3) minute speech about what God, their flag or their country means to them.  Since 1967, the Fraternal Order of Eagles (FOE) has included this program as a vital component of their efforts to build patriotism and a sense of pride in our youth. All FOE auxiliaries, like Loveland AERIE 3006, are encouraged to reach out to local schools, or youth organizations and sponsor the event to increase participation and awareness.

Debbie Sutton has served as the chairman for some 30 years locally. She’s seen the program thrive with students from not only Montessori School, but also Loveland, Goshen and other area schools in the past. She’d like to see more kids participating again.

“I just want more kids,” said Sutton. “I want more kids to have the opportunity to excel in this. I’m just hoping we can get more participation.”

Sutton talked about previous years when there were a lot of participants, more competition and more fun. She wonders why they wouldn’t want students to have this opportunity to sharpen speaking skills and build self-confidence. Only two students, both from the Montessori School here in Loveland participated. Though uncontested, judges still scored them on a scale of 1-10 in 10 separate categories including: topic content, style of oral presentation, originality, voice and diction, poise, effectiveness of delivery among others. Judge Brad Greenberg, Gold Financial Services manager and former Loveland City Council member Brent Zuch and Eagles District 1 Deputy State President Anthony Schutte served as the judges scoring the contestants up to a maximum of 100 points each.  

Brent Zuch remembers competing in the program when it was an assignment for every Loveland School student. He still has a plaque from the competition those many years ago. He recalled classmate Scott Gordon receiving so much applause for his speech, that Brent rewrote his essay and they both presented at the Eagles Hall competition. As a judge for the event this year, he saw and heard both Charlotte Platt and Furthur Grimm present their speeches at Eagles Hall. He noted someone was revving the engine of a loud car during Charlotte’s speech.

“She didn’t pause a bit, she didn’t falter, she didn’t look over there,” said Zuch. “The fact she plowed through that bumped her up a bit. Her content was good. She related to her father as a veteran which was very relatable. That was a trump card.”

Furthur Grimm presented his speech next. Zuch noted differences in his delivery and mannerisms while he presented.

“When he (Grimm) gave his speech, when he said flag, he looked at the flag,” Zuch said. “He did look up more. He paused more; I think intentionally. He could have dressed up a little more.”

Both students are in eighth grade but competed in different age groups due to rules about age at time they entered this competition year. Charlotte won the 12-13 age group while Furthur won the 14-15 year age group. Both received a winner’s plaque and will move on to the Zone level competition hosted by Georgetown Eagles #2293 in Georgetown, Ohio April 11th at 10 a.m.

“This is my third year competing and I’ve never faced another kid here,” said Furthur Grimm. “Charlotte and I are the same grade, but I’m older than her so we enter in different age groups. I didn’t have to go up against anyone and neither did she.”

Furthur first heard about this from a couple friends. He thought it would be a good opportunity to try it and learn what it was all about. The first time he participated in the program was a good experience.

“The first time I gave a speech everyone was kind of welcoming and there was really no judgement,” Grimm said. “It’s a really fun thing to come here and do. The Eagles are generous enough to donate a ton of money to our school every year. It feels right to come here and represent our school.”

When it was suggested he might see increased competition from Loveland area students next year, he said: “I look forward to it.”

Clearly, the experience has built his confidence in speaking publicly. Charlotte Platt has also competed in the program multiple times starting when she was in fifth-grade. In fact, her mom is a teacher and actually helped Furthur the first year he competed in sixth-grade.

“She walked me through the process and helped me type it out,” Furthur said. “She really coached me through how to do the whole thing.”

 The whole thing leads up to the presentation at the Eagles Hall in front of the judges, timekeeper and a public audience which, in this case, also included their teachers from Montessori. Mark Traxler and Rene Steinkamp were both on hand to watch their students present in front of the judges and public audience. They shared a little of the story of what goes into helping them prepare for this God, flag and country oratory program.

 “It’s first having them connect with what they feel,” said Steinkamp. “Then giving them space to put down what they feel and then create some kind of story they would want to share with someone.” 

Steinkamp says one of the challenges with students this age is getting them to “go deeper” to develop more internal critical thinking. It’s about helping them begin to figure out where they fit in the world and how they feel about the world. Mark Traxler described a term they use in middle school – valorization – where they “find their worth and connection to the adult world they are merging into”.

“Our goal is for them to feel confident in who they are, confident in what they have to say and that their opinion and their work matters,” said Traxler. “They’re ready for it. They’re eager for it. It’s to make sure we provide the opportunity for them to feel that, to experience that and to build on it. That’s most of our work.”

For the Montessori teachers, it’s about “meeting the students where they are” to help them become the best version of themselves. That translates to preparing Charlotte and Furthur in two different ways for this program. Charlotte is less outgoing; this required her to step out of her comfort zone.

“This was amazing when she got up to speak,” Steinkamp said. “You would never know that was very hard for her. Every child is different.”

Furthur Grimm is really very comfortable talking with anyone from younger students to older adults. He doesn’t fit into a standard mold but demonstrates a high level of intelligence and ability to figure things out.

“I’d say he’s very adaptable,” Traxler said. “He can talk to adults, he connects with his peers; whatever the situation requires, he adapts.”

The teachers were at ease offering praise and insights into the abilities of both Furthur and Charlotte. Each student held up their end demonstrating their capabilities thoughtfully writing about God, flag and country as well as telling their story of what God, flag and country mean to them. Jessica Sullivan is the proud mother of Furthur Grimm and shared some thoughts about her son competing for the third time. Only one of those three times was there someone else with him.

“I am very, very proud,” said Sullivan. “He’s done it all on his own. It’s not me asking him to do this. He practices on his own. I really appreciate that he’s taking his time to do this. His whole family is very proud of him. We love sharing his speeches with his grandmother.”

Next up: Furthur and Charlotte will be sharing their speeches for the judges at the Southwest Zone competition at the Georgetown Eagles #2293 on April 11th. This time they will have to present the speech from memory without reading it. Winning at the Zone competition means moving on to the State competition where they can win $2,000 toward their future education and potentially advance to the International Final competition recently held in places like Reno, Nevada, Orlando, Florida and even Michigan just one year ago. Winning there would earn each of them additional money toward their future education. Serving as a local chairman for the program for 30-plus years has allowed Debbie Sutton to see the students bloom

 “It’s like watching caterpillars turn into butterflies.” Sutton said.

Good luck to Furthur Grimm and Charlotte Platt as they move to the next step on their God, flag and Country oratory journey.

God, Flad and Country Southwest Competition

• April 11, 2026 – 10:00 AM
• Georgetown Eagles @2293
• 600 Mt. Orab Pike
• Georgetown, Ohi 45121