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Madison Alabama American Legion Post 229

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American Legion Oratorical Contest - 2024

MADISON – High school youth in Madison County can vie for significant/generous cash prizes while showing their knowledge of the U.S. Constitution in the 2023 American Legion High School Oratorical Scholarship Contest.  “Since 1938, the program has presented participants with an academic speaking challenge that teaches important leadership qualities, the history of our nation’s laws, the ability to think and speak clearly, and an understanding of the duties, responsibilities, rights, and privileges of American citizenship.” 

American Legion Posts across Madison County are inviting High School students to compete in the annualOratorical speech contest to be held initially at the Madison City Hall and culminating after several levels of Alabama State contests at a National competition at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, MI.  Per Alabama, “All contestants must be bona fide students herein described as any student under the age of twenty (20) years on the dates (May 17-19, 2024) of the National Contestants who are presently enrolled in a high school or junior high school (public, parochial, military, private or state accredited home school) in which the curriculum of the said school is of high school level commencing with grade nine (9) and terminating with grade twelve (12).”  Students shall be citizens of or lawful permanent residents of the United States.

Madison's American Legion Post 229 veteran, Mr. Danny J. Marr, will again serve as the 2024 Madison County Chairman.  Note: Information about the American Legion contest will be emailed by the Post 229 Commander to all Madison County school officials.  

Contest rules require a prepared 8–10-minute oration in English, of some content of the U.S. Constitution of the contestant’s choosing, emphasizing the duties and obligations of a citizen to the United States. The contest also requires the contestant to speak for 3-5 minutes on a randomly drawn constitutional amendment.  All contestants must speak in English and without notes.

The first level of competition will start at 10 a.m. on 10 Feb, 2024, at Madison City Courthouse, 100 Hughes Road. Madison, AL 35758.  Contestants must arrive by 9:30 a.m. for a briefing. (Note: Post 229 will provide refreshments and lunch.)

Madison County’s contest winner will advance to compete in the 12th District competition to be held on March 2, 2024.  The winner will then proceed on March 16, 2024, to the 1st Division’s competition and the winner will then proceed to the State of Alabama Department competition in Montgomery, AL on March 30, 2024.  Each State Champion will meet at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, MI, May 17-19, to compete in the National Contest.

At each level of competition, winners in the top three places will receive monetary awards. Post 229 will award the top three winners: $500, $300, and $200 respectively in the initial contest and District 12 will also award similarly.

The winners for the State of Alabama will be awarded scholarships of $2,500, $1,500, and $1,000 for the top three places, respectively. 

The national level includes three levels of competition: Round 1, Round 2, and a Final. Each state winner who competes in the first round of the national contest will receive a $2,000 scholarship.  Participants in the second round, who do not advance to the national final round, will also receive an additional $2,000 scholarship. The top three youth orators who have won all previous elimination rounds of the contest will receive college scholarships of $25,000, $22,500, and $20,000, respectively! 

American Legion will pay for travel and lodging expenses of state winners to the national contest. (Note: A student from Madison, AL won the Alabama State contest in 2023 and a student from Birmingham, AL won the National Championship in 2022!)

Students should contact their career counselor, principal, and/or speech teacher, as appropriate, for contest details. Candidates notified from each school and their parent(s) can attend the initial Madison County competition. Madison County high-schoolers interested in entering the competition can access general National rules and contest information at www.legion.org/oratorical.

Each Madison County candidate must email a brief Biographical Sketch no later than 3 Feb 2024 to American Legion Post 229 at: oratorical@americanlegionpost229.org.  Note that due to limited time to process all competitors in one day, competitors will be selected based on earliest biosketch submissions to the oratorical site above.  The Madison County Oratorical Chairman, Mr. Marr, can be reached via email at: dmarr4225@gmail.com. The Commander of American Legion Post 229, Larry Vannoy, can be reached at commander@americanlegionpost229.org.   

Note: Go to next page (P.2) for 2024 Assigned Oratorical Contest Constitutional Amendments.  Only one (1) amendment of four will be chosen (around noon) during the contest for each contestant's tailored 3-5 minute speech.

Note: A blank Biographical Sketch form is available at P.3  If needed, request an emailed copy to: oratorical@americanlegionpost229.org. 

P.1