The American Legion

National High School Oratorical Scholarship Competition

Statement of Purpose, Student Application Procedure and FAQs
Following is information regarding the American Legions Oratorical Scholarship
competition.

Why A Speech Scholarship Contest?

The American Legion recognizes that the future of our nation that so many of
our members have made sacrifices to defend during times of war, will be
collectively in the hands of the youth of our communities. For a country
founded on the principles of freedom and justice for all, an awareness of the
rights and obligations of being a citizen of our great country is essential. Yet it
is apparent that insufficient instruction is provided by our schools in educating
our young people about the contents of this important document that details
the rights and duties of our citizens the Constitution of the United States.
As a way to encourage our nations high school aged youth to learn about our
Constitution, The American Legion has established The American Legion
National High School Oratorical Scholarship Competition program with a
focus on the contents of the U.S. Constitution. The participants are to prepare
and deliver an original 8 to 10 minute speech on any aspect of the
Constitution of their choosing, and a 3 to 5 minute extemporaneous speech on
a pre-selected topic related to the Constitution as chosen by the National
Oratorical Competition Commission, and which is provided to the contestant
just 5 minutes prior to giving his/her speech on that topic.

Participant Registration

All high school students at all grade levels (Freshman through Senior) may
register to participate in the Oratorical competition by simply signing a
registration / signature form and providing contact information.

The Registration Form will be made available during the on-campus visitation*
by a representative from The American Legion, who will also provide an
overview of the competition, including when, where and at what time the
competition is to take place, what is involved, what scholarship awards will be
presented and to answer any questions.
The contact information obtained on the Registration Form will only be shared
with the members of the sponsoring Posts Americanism Committee who are
Page 1 of 6

American Legion National High School Oratorical Scholarship Competition

(Cont.)
involved in running the event and have a need to know, and with the volunteer
members of the local Toastmasters.**

*The Legions competition organizers will need a member of the schools staff
to serve as our contact, and to coordinate the on-campus visitation. We would
also request that this person take the initiative to help promote the event to
their respective student population, to periodically make contact with the
participants to ensure they are progressing in their preparation for the
competition, and to encourage them to stay with it. If a student subsequently
decides to not continue as a participant, notification to the American Legions
competition representative, Alan Munch (937-8598), is requested.

Registration Cutoff Date

The cutoff date for registering is December 1st.

The reason for establishing a cutoff date is two-fold:
1. To enable the American Legions competition organizers the time required
to make the necessary preparations for conducting the competition, and to
have available the certificates, medals and scholarships funds, and;
2. Because of the challenging nature of the competition, including the
necessity for attaining a solid knowledge of the U.S. Constitution about
which the speech topics must be focused, and the ability to deliver an 8 to
10 minute speech without the aid of notes, it would be impractical for any
student who is seriously interested in competing to start preparing for the
competition after that date.

Coaching / Mentoring

**The American Legion has arranged for the local Toastmasters organization
to offer coaching/mentoring assistance to the competition participants. Those
students desiring the volunteer Toastmasters help will so indicate on the
Registration Form, or by verbal confirmation to the American Legions
competition representative.

The parents/guardians of those participants requesting the assistance of the

Toastmasters volunteers will be contacted by the assigned Toastmasters

Page 2 of 6

American Legion National High School Oratorical Scholarship Competition

(Cont.)
volunteer prior to any meeting of the participant with the Toastmasters
member. Meeting arrangements will be made by the participants
parents/guardians with the Toastmasters volunteer.

Commitment to Participate

IMPORTANT -- Contestants must agree to participate at all of the levels for

which they qualify by winning 1st place at any of the four subsequent
competition levels District, Area, Department (State) and National.

The 1st level, or Sponsoring Post level, will be conducted on January 3rd at
the Veterans Memorial Community Center located in Santa Maria.
The 2nd level is the 16 District Competition, and will also be held at the
Veterans Center in Santa Maria on January 24th. Both competitions will begin
at noon on their respective dates*.
The 3rd level is the Area 6 Competition, which will be held at the American
Legions Hollywood Post 43 on March 1st at 10:00am*.
The 4th level, or Department, or State level competition is also to be held at
the American Legions Hollywood Post 43 on March 8th at 10:00am*.
The 5th level, or National level competition will be held at the America
Legions headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana at a specific time and place to
be announced.

*NOTE:

All start times are subject to change as necessitated by the number of

contestants participating contestants will be advised in advance.

NOTE: Other than the National Competition in Indianapolis, Indiana., participants

are responsible for their own transportation to the competition venues and
any accommodations they may choose to obtain.

Scholarships:

The scholarships awards provided to the top three winning contestants at the
Post (1st) level of the competition are:
1st Place - $500., 2nd Place - $300. and 3rd Place - $200.
The 1st Place winner will qualify to move on to the second level of competition.
Page 3 of 6

American Legion National High School Oratorical Scholarship Competition

(Cont.)

The top three winning contestants at the District (2nd) level of the competition
will be awarded:
1st Place - TBD, 2nd Place - TBD and 3rd Place - TBD
The 1st Place winner will qualify to move on to the Area 6 (3rd) level of
competition.

The top three winning contestants at the Area 6 level of the competition will be
awarded:
1st Place - TBD, 2nd Place - TBD and 3rd Place - TBD
The 1st Place Area competition winner will qualify to move on to the forth level
of competition.

The top six winning contestants at the State (4th) level of the competition will
be awarded:
1st Place $1,200., 2nd Place $1,000., 3rd Place $ 700.,
4th Place $ 700., 5th Place $ 700., 6th Place $ 700.
The 1st Place winner will qualify to move on to the fifth and final level of
competition The National Finals Competition.
All contestants qualifying to compete at the National level will receive an
expense paid trip to the American Legions headquarters in Indianapolis,
Indiana for themselves and an adult escort. In addition, an automatic
scholarship award of $1,500. will be awarded if the State Certified contestant
delivers their speech at the 1st round of the event, and an additional $1,500. if
they move on to the second round of competition, but dont advance to the
final round.

The scholarships awarded to the top three winning contestants at the National
Finals Competition (5th) level of the competition are:
1st Place - $18,000., 2nd Place - $16,000. and 3rd Place - $14,000.

Post Level Competition Venue and Process Familiarization:

An opportunity to check-out the facility where the Post level competition will be

held will be available to participants approximately one week prior to the event.
A briefing describing how the competition will be conducted will also be
provided. The briefing will also be conducted with the contestants about onehalf hour prior to the beginning of the event on January 3rd.
Page 4 of 6

American Legion National High School Oratorical Scholarship Competition

(Cont.)

Hints for Success:

Dont Procrastinate ! : The reason nearly all of those students who expressed
their intention to compete for the substantial scholarship awards and
impressive recognition offered by this speech contest, but who eventually
droped-out is PROCRASTINATION!! Get started NOW on reading the
Constitution, especially those aspects of it that are of particular interest to you,
and about which you will form the basis of your prepared speech. Also,
concentrate on Amendments 5, 6, 8 and 19 these are the four potential
assigned topics, one of which you will be giving an impromptu speech.
Nothing builds confidence in public speaking more than really, really
KNOWING YOUR SUBJECT FORWARD AND BACKWARD.
There are a number of other community service or civic organizations (i.e.
Elks, Daughters of the American Revolution, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Lions,
etc.) that sponsor essay scholarship competitions, and there may be an
opportunity to kill two birds by incorporating aspects of your speech into an
essay to be submitted to these other organizations for their scholarships.

Seek Help : The American Legion has solicited the assistance of the local
Toastmasters group to provide coaching / mentoring services to those
participants who request it. These volunteers are business people, community
leaders and professional public speakers who gather together to help one
another to improve their own speaking skills. They can help you to develop an
impact full speech and polish your presentation skills.
An orientation meeting open to all registered participants will be held on
November 15th at 10:00am at the Scout Hut at Pioneer Park off of W. Foster
Road in Orcutt. Initial instruction on how to develop your speech, and some
delivery techniques to help overcome the fear of public speaking that we all
experience when delivering a speech to an large audience.

Practice !, Practice !, Practice ! : Nothing can ensure a well-delivered speech

like PRACTICE. After youve written your speech, recite it to yourself in front
of a mirror no less than two dozen times; deliver it to your parents (although
theyre usually less critical almost too forgiving); to your extended family
members; your friends (if theyre really your friends, theyll be brutally honest,
and there isnt any better feedback than that); and to your Toastmaster
volunteer the final frontier. If s/he likes it, youre there!

Page 5 of 6

American Legion National High School Oratorical Scholarship Competition

(Cont.)

Dress Code: The American Legion National High School Scholarship

Competition has earned recognition by many institutions of higher education
as a highly regarded event that attracts the more academically oriented and
achievement minded young high school aged young people. As such, the
Legionnaires conducting the event, and the community leaders who serve as
judges for the competition, will be in business attire. Although not mandatory,
competitors will project a more professional and respectful appearance if they
likewise choose to dress in professional attire conservative business styled
dress or pantsuit for females, and a business suit or sports coat and slacks
and tie for males.

The foregoing is representative of the usual questions and concerns the school
coordinators and competition participants have asked the Legion organizers over the
past three years. If you have any questions not answered above, please dont
hesitate to contact the Legions Oratorical Competition Chairman, Alan Munch, via
e-mail (munchfmy@gmail.com) or phone: 937-8598.

Page 6 of 6