By Kellen Olshefski
Editor
Big Foot High School Senior Carlie O’Donnell recently participated in the American Legion Oratorical Contest.
A press release from Big Foot High School said O’Donnell first competed in the Sharon American Legion Post 130 contest on Jan. 8 and then moved on to compete in the Walworth County American Legion Oratorical Contest.
Susan Pruessing, who’s handling media communications at the high school, said O’Donnell won at the county level, and then again at the district level in Mukwonago on Jan. 31, qualifying her as a competitor in the Wisconsin American Legion Oratorical Contest.
“It’s very exciting for her,” Pruessing said on Wednesday. “She’s a very accomplished speaker.”
As a regional participant, O’Donnell was awarded a $600 scholarship from the Wisconsin American Legion, as well as an additional $1,000 for winning at the regional level. If she wins at the state, or department, level on Feb. 14 at Ripon College, O’Donnell could win between $1,000 and $2,000 for finishing in the top three. In addition to the scholarship from the American Legion, the three finalists of the department contest will also be awarded a $5,000 scholarship to Ripon College, upon their enrollment at the college.
If she then advances to the national competition, placing in the top three could earn her between $14,000 and $18,000.
O’Donnell chose the 19th amendment to write her speech on: women’s right to vote.
The oratorical contest
Leo Schneider of Elkhorn’s American Legion Post 45 said last September students participating in the constest develop leadership qualities, the ability to think, speak clearly and intelligently, and better prepare themselves for “the acceptance of the duties and responsibilities, for the rights and privileges of American citizenship.”
He said the program helps students fine-tune communication skills for not only college coursework, but interaction in the workplace, business meetings and seminars.
“Communication is the cornerstone to career advancements.” Schneider said.
“The Department of Wisconsin will help participants become better citizens and help them make better voting decisions, and the scholarship awards are fantastic.”
Schneider said the contest can also be a major self-confidence booster for students, not only in public speaking, but in daily life as well.
According to Schneider, during the contest, a single main speech topic related to the United States Constitution will be required with a length of 8 to 10 minutes, as well as an assigned topic that must consume 3 to 5 minutes of presenter’s delivery.
Schneider said the assigned topic comes from the American Legion headquarters in Portage and will be one of four topics. Schneider said the topics are already available online for contestants to begin preparing and the contestant will be given one of the four topics at the contest.
For more on the American Legion’s Oratorical Contest, visit wilegion.org and look under Programs for the oratorical scholarship program.
