Post 52 Contest Results Are Official.
January 8, 2011 American Legion Post 52, Franklinton, NC held their Oratorical contest and the winner was Randi Gibbs. She now moves on to the district contest, also being held here at Post 52 on the 22nd. If you see her at school or in the neighborhood give her encouragement and come out and support her at the district contest.
Beverly Gibbs with her daughter Randi Gibbs
District 5 Contest Now Complete.
January 22, 2011 American Legion Post 52, Franklinton, NC hosted the district 5 oratorical contest. There was only one additional contestant, Willie Lewis III (shown below), from Durham, NC. He was the winner of Post 166, Oxford, NC, contest. None of the other Posts in the district participated.
Mr. Willie C. Lewis Jr. and wife Debra with their son Willie Lewis III
Both contestants did outstanding jobs and the judges were faced with a very difficult challenge in naming a winner. When all of the judges sheets were tallied Randi Gibbs was declared the District 5 winner and will be moving on to the division contest in Wilson, NC on Feb 12.
Randi and Willie with the District Commander Robert Ferrell
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Division 1 Contest Is Now Official
February 12, 2011 starting at 1:00 p.m. at the Wilson County Agricultural Center, 1806 Goldsboro Street SW, Wilson, NC 27893
The contest was close with outstanding jobs being done. The judges did a great job making very difficult decisions after listening to the presentations. When all of the judges sheets were tallied Tyheim Brown was declared the division winner and will be moving on to the state contest in Nashville, NC on March 5.
Tyheim Brown with Division 1 Commander James Ervin
Randi Gibbs did a great job in representing Post 52 and District 5 at the Division 1 Contest. We can all be proud of her performance and hope that she will be back next year. Keep up the good work, you are still our champ.
Randi Gibbs with Division 1 Commander James Ervin
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State Oratorical Finals.
On March 5, 2011 the state finals were held in Nashville, NC.
If you were not in attendance you missed a great competition between five fantastic contenders for the honor of State Champion. One contender from each division participated.
First Place Winner – Daniel Nelson
Second Place – Luke Brake and Third Place – Eric Marcy
Our Runners–Up were Ruby Au and Tyheim Brown
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National Oratorical Contest Finals.
The national finals were held April 15 - 17, 2011, at the University Place Conference Center & Hotel, 850 W. Michigan St., Indianapolis. Quarterfinal and semifinal contests were Saturday, April 16.
Grace Pyo, Anastasia Kaiser, and Anisha Gururaj
The top three finalists for the 2011 American Legion High School Oratorical Scholarship Program, “A Constitutional Speech Contest,” gave their oration and assigned topic speech on stage Sunday morning in front of an auditorium filled with family, friends, judges, Legionnaires and other distinguished guests. The live webcast of the championship finals, aired on www.legion.org, captured an audience clear from India thanks to the finalist who took home the 74th Oratorical crown.
Anisha Gururaj from Chesterfield, Mo., finished first and won an $18,000 scholarship for her oration titled, “Our Parent, the Constitution.” Second place and a $16,000 scholarship was awarded to Grace Pyo from Powell, Ohio, for her oration, “Zooming in on the Constitution.” And third place, along with a $14,000 scholarship, was awarded to Anastasia Kaiser from Orinda, Calif., for her oration, “From a Crisis, A Constitution.” In addition to these scholarships, the three finalists, as well as the other 50 contestants, received a $1,500 scholarship for being a participant in the program.
For the championship finals, Gururaj, Pyo and Kaiser presented their eight- to 10-minute oration in front of seven new judges dispersed throughout the audience. Afterward, they spoke three to five minutes on an assigned topic, which was Amendment 10 and drawn randomly by guest speaker Jimmie Foster, The American Legion's national commander.
Here are the presentations of the 10th amendment as presented by: Anisha Gururaj, Grace Pyo, and Anastasia Kaiser
