At the annual speech contest hosted by the Princeton Rotary Club on Tuesday, two students from the local community delivered powerful speeches centered around the theme of fostering hope in the world.
High school students in grades 9 through 12 are eligible to participate in the speech contest, where contestants are given 5 to 8 minutes to present their speeches to Rotarians anonymously as Contestants A and B. Their identities are revealed only after the judges submit their scorecards.
Club President JD Wilson welcomed everyone to the meeting and Club President-Elect and speech contest committee chair, Geneva Malone introduced this year’s theme “Create Hope in the World” and outlined the rules of the contest for everyone present.
The two participants were 15-year-old Isabella “Boo” Burton, a homeschool student and member of the Rotary Interact Club, and 18-year-old Ali Southard, a senior at Caldwell County High School.
Burton shared what the local Rotary Club did to help “Create Hope in the World” for those who were affected by the December 2021 tornado.
click to download audioBurton also mentioned that the Rotary Interact Club can inspire hope within the community.
During Southard’s speech, she expressed that in today’s world, people tend to concentrate on the negative aspects, but it’s the small gestures that have the power to instill hope in those around us.
click to download audioAdditionally, she contributes to fostering hope within the community through volunteering and active participation.
click to download audioWhile the three judges, who were not members of the Rotary Club, tallied up the scores for each young lady, Burton and Southard introduced themselves to the crowd. 15-year old Burton is an intern for the City of Princeton. Burton wants to go into politics when she graduates high school and plans to run for city council. Southard currently is a Certified Nursing Assistant at the local hospital and has been accepted to Paducah Community College where she will be going into radiology in August.
After the scores were tallied, Burton was chosen as the first-place winner and awarded $300, while Southard received $200.
Southard expressed to Your News Edge that if there was one key message she hoped people would take away from her speech, it would be the importance of being actively involved.
Burton emphasized that she hopes people will remember from her speech that they possess the ability to generate hope in the world through any action they take.
Malone and Dr. Melissa Earnest were tasked with organizing the Princeton Rotary Club’s Speech Contest. Earnest told Your News Edge that both of the speeches were excellent.
click to download audioEarnest encourages students to participate in the annual Rotary Club’s Speech Contest, open to public, private, independent and home-school students.
Burton now advances to the Sectional Speech Contest that will be held in Murray on March 28th.
To hear Isabella “Boo” Burton’s speech click on the audio link below:
To hear Ali Southard’s speech, click on the audio link below:
Dr. Melissa Earnest
