Above: Bob Bohr presents first place certificate to Shilpa Sathyanathan, an 8th grader at Kennedy Jr. High School.
Open to 7th and 8th grade students from School Districts 203 and 204 as well as local parochial schools, the 9th annual DuPage County American Legion Annual Americanism Speech Contest was held Saturday at the American Legion Hall in downtown Naperville.
Participants were given the challenge of coming up with a 4-to-6 minute speech on any phase of the U.S. Constitution.
“The students were allowed to use the podium and also to refer to their notes,” explained contest chairman Bob Bohr, noting that the competition was the first leg of the speech contest.
The winner of the first round of the 2015 contest, also honored with the $100 first prize, was Shilpa Sathyanathan, an 8th grader at Kennedy Junior High School. Sathyanathan now will represent Naperville American Legion Post #43 at the DuPage County contest being held next Sun., April 19, in the Theater at the Visitor Center on the grounds of Cantigny in Winfield.
Students from the other 13 American Legion Posts in DuPage County also will be competing in this contest.
This contest is designed to help prepare the students to compete in other American Legion programs offered in both essay and oratorical while attending high school. Winners of those high school contest compete for college scholarships.
For more information about many programs provided by the Naperville American Legion Post 43, visit www.naperlegion.org.
