Gabrielle Tuma won $100 for her memorized speeches Thursday and could win more scholarship money in coming weeks.
Tuma, a sophomore at Shawano Community High School, was the only person to compete Thursday in the annual local oratorical contest sponsored by Elefson-Zueske American Legion Post 117.
With the win, she advanced to the county level of the American Legion’s National Oratorical Contest. The county competition will be held Jan. 17 at Post 117’s hall.
“I like expressing my opinions so that is why I like doing this,” Tuma said. “I am proud to represent Legion Post 117 and Shawano Community High School.”
Students in the contest must present a memorized eight- to 10- minute speech on the First Amendment and a three- to five-minute speech on another amendment to the Constitution selected randomly from among four possibilities. Contestants are given five minutes to prepare for the second speech, which is presented without notes or assistance.
At Thursday’s contest, the topic of the second speech was the Sixth Amendment, which is the right to a speedy and and public trial — considered by Tuma to be the most challenging speech.
“The memorization was the hardest,” Tuma said. “I had to work on it a lot.”
The contest is designed to help students to better understand the U.S. Constitution, as well as the rights and privileges of American citizenship.
“The purpose of the contest is to promote Americanism,” said Fred Ponschok, chairman of the Post 117 contest for several years. “It is a national contest that is held throughout the country.”
Mart Grams, SCHS social studies teacher, said five students expressed interest in the local competition, but only Tuma persevered.
“They just found it was too much work,” Grams said. “They have to do the research. … We call that the senior research paper. It has to be purely memorized.”
Grams said Tuma expressed interest in the contest last year but was apprehensive about speaking before a challenging group of judges, at both the local and state levels.
“She was a freshman, and she was a little nervous, but this year, she is more grounded and her speech is fantastic,” Grams said. “(She) has the confidence to stand up in front of people who are judging you, and that is the hardest part.”
Tuma said she has practiced her speeches before her classmates five times and at home numerous times. Her brother, Riley, was the most recent SCHS student to advance to the state competition. He finished third. He is now a sophomore at Viterbo University in La Crosse.
The next step for Gabrielle is the county competition, where winning earns another $100. The district competition will be held Jan. 24 in King. The winner advances to the regional contest, where the scholarship money increases to $1,000 for the winner and $600 for the finalists.
The state winner will be awarded a $3,000 scholarship. First runner-up will receive a $2,500 scholarship; second runner-up will receive a $2,000 scholarship.
The regional and state competitions will be held Feb. 14 at Ripon College.
Attorneys serve as judges at the state level.
Categories
