American Legion Post 246 has appointed Bob Claycomb as chair of the National High School Oratorical Scholarship Program for the post. Claycomb co-chaired the successful Oratorical Contest for his post in Arizona. He is excited to revitalize the Oratorical Contest for the Sun City Center post.
The American Legion’s annual High School Oratorical Scholarship Program is part of the Legion’s mentoring youth and promoting Americanism missions. In addition to refining public speaking skills, students develop leadership qualities, critical thinking and appreciation of the rights and privileges of American citizenship. Winners at the national level are awarded scholarships of $25,000 for first place, $22,500 for second and $20,000 for third. There are also awards for local, district, regional and state winners.
Participants are required to prepare an eight to 10-minute speech on some aspect of the Constitution of the United States. In addition to their prepared speech, contestants will present a three to five-minute extemporaneous talk designed to test their knowledge of the Constitution.
“The students who accept the challenge are amazing,” said Claycomb. “They know much more about our government and the Constitution than most adults. It’s truly marvelous to listen to their speeches.”
American Legion Post 246 will be promoting this scholarship program for bona fide students in grades nine through 12. Claycomb will reach out to counselors, history and speech teachers and debate coaches at four local high schools — East Bay, Lenard, Morgan and Sumner — to discuss the Oratorical Contest. He will also be available to assist contestants with speech and delivery preparation.
High school students under age 20 are eligible. Competition begins at the post level and advances to a state competition. Legion department representatives certify one winner per state to the national contest, where department winners compete against each other in two speaking rounds. The contest caps off with a final round that decides the three top finishers.
Speaking subjects must be on some aspect of the U.S. Constitution, with some emphasis on the duties and obligations of citizens to our government. Speeches are eight to 10 minutes long; three- to five-minute speeches on an assigned topic also are part of the contest.
Further information is available on the American Legion national website, www.legion.org/oratorical; on the American Legion Post 246 website, https://americanlegionfl.vet/; or by contacting Claycomb at rsclay2012@gmail.com.
