52 youth advance to National Oratorical Contest

Fifty-two high school students won their respective American Legion department oratorical contest to advance to the American Legion National Oratorical Contest in Hillsdale, Mich., May 18-19, where they will speak on the U.S. Constitution and compete for over $203,000 in scholarships.

The contest will begin Saturday, May 18, on the campus of Hillsdale College, where all 52 competitors will be divided into nine groups for the quarterfinals. The competitors will give a prepared eight- to 10-minute oration on the U.S. Constitution and a three- to five-minute oration on an assigned topic discourse – a phase of the Constitution selected from Articles and Sections – in front of judges and family members. The top 18 will advance to the semifinal round to again present their prepared oration and assigned topics. Following the semifinal round, the top three finalists will advance to the final competition Sunday, May 19.

Each department (state) winner who participates in the national contest’s first round receives a $2,000 scholarship. The 18 semifinalists will receive an additional $2,000. And the three finalists will compete for first place and a $25,000 scholarship. Second and third place will earn $22,500 and $20,000 respectively. 

For the past 26 years, the American Legion National Oratorical Contest has been held in Indianapolis, home to American Legion National Headquarters. But in 2024, the Legion received an opportunity to relocate the 86-year-old program to the historic campus of Hillsdale College in Michigan. 

2024 department oratorical winners:

Alabama: Caden Walker, sponsored by Post 122 in Prattville

Alaska: Eric McKinley, sponsored by Post 20 in Kenai

Arizona: Mary-Angel K Sannapu, sponsored by Post 128 in Anthem

Arkansas: Mattie Jimmerson, sponsored by Post 71 in Cabot

California: Mahee Haswani, sponsored by Post 362 in Folsom

Colorado: Mae Webster, sponsored by Post 1260 in Highlands Ranch

Connecticut: Adalee Evans, sponsored by Post 17 in Naugatuck,

Delaware: Rujula Borkar, sponsored by Post 30 in Wilmington

District of Columbia: Willow Singleton, sponsored by Post in Washington, D.C.

Florida: William Kiker, sponsored by Post 296 in Destin

France: Nora Gibbons, sponsored by Post 605 in Paris

Georgia: Anant Gautam, sponsored by Post 307 in Cumming

Hawaii: Lehua Angeline Norris, sponsored by Post 20 in Kailua-Kona

Idaho: Eliana Cecil, sponsored by Post 16 in Mackay

Illinois: April Zhang, sponsored by Post 43 in Naperville

Indiana: Knox Boyd, sponsored by Post 38 in West Lafayette

Iowa: Karli Roth, sponsored by Post 737 in Waukee

Kansas: Kamela Corbin, sponsored by Post 408

Kentucky: David Daniel, sponsored by Post 9 in Owensboro

Louisiana: Leianni Vital, sponsored by Post 1 in Lake Charles

Maine:  Kylie Thibodeau, sponsored by Post 86 in Gray

Maryland: Siddharth Bajaj, sponsored by Post 300 in Columbia

Massachusetts: Michael Borowski, sponsored by Post 92 in North Grafton

Michigan: Wisdom Walker, sponsored by Post 303 in Grosse Point

Minnesota: Elijah Cox, sponsored by Post 134 in Walker

Mississippi: Julia Lever, sponsored by Post 153 in Madison

Missouri: Jana Rawashdeh, sponsored by Post 312 in St. Charles

Montana: Jaci Pheifer, sponsored by Post 137 in Kalispell

Nebraska: Joshua Mammen, sponsored by Post 1 in Omaha

Nevada: Alexander Hetey, sponsored by Post 40 in Henderson

New Hampshire: Thatcher Debowski, sponsored by Post 35 in Hampton

New Jersey: Elias Freire, sponsored by Post 213 in Sussex

New Mexico: Zia Miller, sponsored by Post 10 in Las Cruces

New York: Nia Gooden, sponsored by Post 1009 in Yorktown Heights

North Carolina: Natalie Allen, sponsored by Post 267 in Greensboro

North Dakota: McKinnlee Haberman, sponsored by Post 153 in Wyndmere

Ohio: Katherine Toepfer, sponsored by Post 700 in Howland

Oklahoma: Nandini Patel, sponsored by Post 184 in Moore

Oregon:  Adelaide Saunders, sponsored by Post 96 in Vale

Pennsylvania: Amelia Summers, sponsored by Post 559 in Annville

Rhode Island: Sophia Osmani, sponsored by Post 81 in Coventry

South Carolina: Isaac Kanagy, sponsored by Post 124 in Walhalla

South Dakota: Elena Andrews, sponsored by Post 72 in Beresford

Tennessee: Abigail Whicker, sponsored by Post 281 in Mt. Juliet

Texas: Evelyn Fisher, sponsored by Post 575 in Lubbock

Utah: Simon Parnell, sponsored by Post 27 in Farmington

Vermont: McKinley Keaffaber, sponsored by Post 13 in Bennington

Virginia: Marisa Parikh, sponsored by Post 54 in Bedford

Washington: Aubrey Moore, sponsored by Post 186 in Seattle

West Virginia: Juliann Harlan, sponsored by Post 29 in Elkins

Wisconsin: Joshua Rush, sponsored by Post 375 in Mukwonago

Wyoming: Riley Laffin, sponsored by Post 11 in Lovell