American Legion honors young orators
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POLSON — Three well-dressed, intelligent and well-prepared high school students in the Polson area competed in an oratorical contest on Monday, Feb. 25, at Polson High School. This contest is sponsored annually by the Polson American Legion Post 112, and considerable help in organizing the meet was provided by school officials.
All three competitors presented their own original 8-10 minute speech regarding some aspect of the United States Constitution (as amended) as well as having to respond with a 3-5 minute presentation to an assigned subject drawn randomly during contest. (They did know in advance the four topical subjects from which this would be chosen.)
The volunteer judges and timekeepers were challenged to choose a winner due to the high quality of the preparedness and delivery by each of the contestants. In the end, the five independent judges selected the work of Sharidan Russell, titled “The 16th Amendment: Effects of the Income Tax,” for first prize, followed closely by Carlton (Cash) Sisler and Jemimah Murphy in second and third place, respectively. Each of the three winners received a cash scholarship reward for their efforts.
In addition, the local winner (Russell), now advances to the next level of the competition. That meet, known as the district level, will be held in Polson on March 10 in the Masonic Lodge Building (lower level) beginning at 1 p.m. Families, friends and interested parties are welcome to attend. The winner from the district level will earn an additional cash prize and advance to the zone level followed by the department (State of Montana) level, both to be held March 24 in Belgrade.
The final rounds of this national competition will be held in Indianapolis, Ind., in April, where the winners receive scholarship awards totaling more than $20,000 in addition to the amounts they have already won toward furthering their education.
