St Rose Students Compete In Woodmen Contest

On the morning of May 8, a dozen sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students assembled to compete in the Modern Woodmen of America’s annual Speech Contest. Modern Woodmen of America is an insurance and investment company that sponsors the speaking competition at the local, state, and national levels.

This year’s topic was Great American Leaders. The leader chosen did not have to be born in America, but each had to have impacted American life. The subjects chosen covered a broad spectrum of fields, including Dwight D. Eisenhower, Abraham Lincoln, Wilma Mankiller, Retired General Colin Powell, Merriweather Lewis, Clara Barton, Ben Franklin, Muhammad Ali, Robert F. Kennedy, Sargent Shriver, Jonas Salk, and Arthur Fleming.

Students had to present their arguments for their choices in three to five minutes. Under or over that time limit resulted in a five-point deduction from their total scores. Speakers were graded on material organization, delivery and presentation, and overall effectiveness.

Judges for the competition were St Rose fifth grade teacher Julie Collins, News-Times reporter Sybil Blau, and Newtown Bee education reporter Laurie Borst.

While all 12 participants did an admirable job of supporting their leaders, three stood out. First place went to David Tortora for his dissertation on the exemplary deeds of Sargent Shriver. Jessica Jowdy came in second for her eloquent description of Robert Kennedy as a great leader. Andrew Hyeon took third place with his speech on the achievements of Colin Powell.

These three students will compete in the regional competition to be held at St Rose in May. Last year, more than 100,000 students in grades five through 12 participated in the competition.