Mario Edini, Special Writer
MONROE — “America is about …. endless opportunities for success — if you have the courage and the will to seize them.
”The right to attempt the success possible in this mighty country is provided by one of the most powerful documents in the world, the United States Constitution, the foundation of one of the youngest and most successful countries on earth.”
These words were part of the speech presented by high school student Alexis Cashman, 16, during a first-level competition of the American Legion National High School Oratorical Scholarship Contest recently held at Monroe Township High School.
As winner of the event, conducted by American Legion Post 522, Alexis earned the right to move on to the Middlesex County level of the national competition, which will be held Feb. 25 at American Legion Post 471 in Iselin.
The contest has been run annually by the American Legion National Organization since 1938. The competition is open to all high school students under the age of 20.
At each stage of the competition, students are challenged to deliver a prepared speech on the United States Constitution followed by a discourse on some assigned topic related to the Constitution.
The main goal of the competition, as noted at the American Legion national website, www.legion.org, is “to develop deeper knowledge and appreciation for the U.S. Constitution among high school students.”
However, another important goal is to develop leadership qualities in the students and teach them the ability to think and speak clearly.
Dan Mann, Americanism chairman for American Legion Post 522, has coordinated the local competition at Monroe Township High School for the last eight years.
”It’s difficult for a teenager to speak before an audience, but these kids develop confidence,” Mr. Mann said. “They do research to prepare for their talk, and they learn something about the Constitution, which is one of our purposes for the competition; to have the kids learn something about the American government.”
Through the competition, the American Legion awards approximately $140,000 in scholarship money nationally each year.
Participants first must be successful at local level competitions, usually held at community high schools, before progressing to county, then regional, then state-level contests.
In New Jersey, the top finishers of these local, county and regional level contests usually receive cash awards.
At the state finals, which will be held this year on March 31 at the Trenton War Memorial Building, the New Jersey American Legion organization will present scholarship awards to the top finishers — $4,000 to first place, $2,500 to second place, $2,000 to third place and $1,000 each for fourth and fifth place.
Winners of the state competitions are eligible to compete in the national finals. This year’s finals will be held April 13 to 15 in Indianapolis, Indiana, site of the American Legion national headquarters.
Each state-level winner, who participates in the first round of the national finals, receives a $1,500 scholarship added to what they already have been awarded during the state competitions.
Any competitor who advances to the second round, but does not make it to the final round, receives an additional $1,500 scholarship.
The top three finishers at the national finals are awarded scholarships of $18,000, $16,000 and $14,000 respectively.
Scholarship money won at all levels of the competition may be used at any college or university in the United States.
American Legion guidelines dictate that each competition consist of two parts. In the first part, each competitor presents a prepared speech relating to some aspect of the U.S. Constitution. The speech must be between eight and 10 minutes in length and must be delivered without the use of any written materials.
Laura Granett is a history teacher at Monroe Township High School and serves as the chief advisor and coach for the students participating in the annual competition.
”The main speech is very general,” Ms. Granett said. “It must be on some aspect of the Constitution of the United States with emphasis placed on the duties and obligations of a citizen to our government.”
She added, “We’ve had speeches that have focused on one topic, like voting, or some that have been broader, that mention a combination of topics like voting, jury duty or aspects of military service.”
As Monroe Township district supervisor of sciences and social studies, Bonnie Burke has had a great deal of experience with the competition.
”The opening speech has an open-ended perspective,” Ms. Burke said. “It usually taps into what democracy and civic participation mean to the student through the lens of the United States Constitution.”
In the second part of each competition, all participants must deliver an extemporaneous three- to five-minute speech on a topic selected at random from a set of topics previously announced for the year’s competition. The possible topics usually relate to specific sections of, or amendments to, the Constitution.
After all participants have completed both parts of the competition, a winner is selected by a panel of judges. The judges are usually made up of American Legion members and representatives of local government and community organizations.
Mr. Mann noted the competitions he coordinates at the local level are run using the national guidelines.
”We do follow a standardized format because what they go through here at the local level is what they’re going to experience going up the line. So this is preparation for it,” Mr. Mann said.
At the end of the first-level competition held at Monroe Township High School, Gene Price, commander of Post 522, and Mr. Mann, awarded Alexis a first-place cash award of $300.
Alexis, who hopes to eventually go into law, is looking forward to competing at the county level. She noted how much work went into writing her speech and preparing for the competition.
”I found out about the competition in late October. I started writing the speech on a two-hour bus ride from a field hockey game,” she said. “Last night, I worked on the speech for three hours, talking to myself in the mirror. Maybe I spent a total of 15 hours on memorization.”
Ms. Burke noted it takes a special student to participate in this type of event.
”It’s very challenging, probably one of the most difficult contests that the students participate in, in terms of academics, because it is so performance based,” Ms. Burke said. “It takes a good deal of time for the kids to really craft their written response, then to turn their written response into their speech, and then to perform that speech in front of a panel of judges.”
Ms. Granett, who has been an advisor for the program for six years, noted how proud she was that one of her students, Sean O’Conner, had won the second- place award in the state finals a few years ago.
”As a teacher, as an advisor, there is no better feeling of accomplishment than when you can work with a student and see them grow,” Ms. Granett said. “For example, Sean, who went and placed second in the state, the first time that I worked with him and where he ended up, he was not the same person.
”I think that there is no other activity that truly changes who they are. You could be the smartest person in the room, but if you cannot articulate your ideas effectively, nobody knows. This is what changes people’s lives.
”When I see the student who is standing nervous and petrified before me who then, at a later point, can stand confident in front of strangers, there’s nothing better. I know that I have helped change their lives, and that’s phenomenal.”
Mr. Mann noted that in the years during which he has been part of the program, he has enjoyed working with the students at Monroe Township High School and seeing them grow and develop their skills.
”It’s a wonderful opportunity for students to learn how to prepare an oration, how to deliver it, to learn about the Constitution, and, most important, they learn something about themselves,” he said.
When asked what she had gotten out of the experience of this first level of competition, Alexis’ response echoed the thoughts of Ms. Granett and Mr. Mann.
”Confidence. If you don’t have confidence in what you’re saying and what you’re doing, it’s just going to bottom out and fail,” she said.
