April 20, 2013

Oratorical finals set

By Cameran Richardson
Oratorical
Oratorical finals set
American Legion National Oratorical contestants (ltr) Zachary Smith of Smyrna, DE; Ryland Ploeger of Lake Stevens WA; Mackenzie Arnold of Wantage, NJ;Kayla Giordano of East Lyme, CT; Kate Park of Los Altos, CA; and Paul Popa of Saline, MI listen to Colorado Legionnaire and contest moderator Paul Talafuse go over the ground rules for the quarterfinal competition. At far left is Indiana Legionnaire Ida Jewell who is the tabulator and timer for this group of contestants. (Photo by Eldon Lindsay)

Missouri, South Carolina and South Dakota advance to the 76th Oratorical finals on Sunday. Watch the finals live at 10 a.m. (EDT) on legiontv.org.

The field is set for Sunday's American Legion’s 76th National Oratorical finals in Indianapolis. The three high school orators advancing to Sunday's competition are:

Agnes Rieger of Kansas City, Mo. Her oration is titled, "Let's Talk About Pennsylvania."

Elizabeth Scannell of Goose Creek,, S.C. Her oration is titled, "The Constitution: A Compass for Our Times."

Rachel Schartz of Humboldt, S.D. Her oration is titled, "Sewing Freedom."

The finals will be streamed live at 10 a.m. (EDT) on legiontv.org. The first-place recipient will be awarded an $18,000 scholarship, and second- and third-place finishers will receive $16,000 and $14,000 scholarships, respectively. During the finals, each competitor will present their prepared oration and a speech on an assigned topic discourse — a phase of the Constitution selected from Articles and Sections — in front of a panel of judges and audience members.

All 53 orators received a $1,500 scholarship for competing in the Oratorical Contest quarterfinals. And the nine competitors who advanced to semifinals each received an additional $1,500 scholarship.

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