Three Londonderry students competed in the Rotary Speech Competition in Derry this weekend. It is a speech competition between Londonderry and Pinkerton which gives students the opportunity for the two schools to show how the Rotary impacts their daily lives. According to General Guidelines, the purpose is to “help youth rotarians and the community-at-large to more completely understand, encourage, and foster the principles of Rotary…”
Londonderry has been a part of this competition for more than 20 years.
Sophomore Jackie Bauman earned second place with a $200 cash prize.
Junior Erika Tillis earned third with a $100 cash prize.
Junior Nathaniel Pepe earned fourth place.
“I decided to participate because i thought it would be beneficial for public speaking and thought it would be a good experience in general,” Tillis said.
The Rotary International is a nonprofit service organization which provides humanitarian services to promote peace and goodwill. There are 1.2 million “Rotarians” worldwide.
The Rotary’s moto is “Service Above Self” and the basis of their organization is the following of a four question test, or The 4-Way Test.
The 4-Way Test of the things we think, say, or do:
- Is it the TRUTH?
- Is it FAIR to all concerned?
- Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
- Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
General guidelines for the competition:
- Contest in open to all students approved by the high school
- Topic for speech is student’s choice, however the speech must show the practical application of all four points of the Rotary Four-Way Test
- The speech must be read verbatim, notes may be used at club and regional levels
- Must be no less than 5 minutes, no more than 7
- Previous Rotary winners may not compete
- There is no obligation to participate beyond the Club level
