On Sun., March 1, the American Legion Department of Illinois held its Annual State High School Oratorical Scholarship Contest in Springfield, IL.
Chaithrika Sripathi, a freshman at Naperville North High School, was declared the winner after giving her 8–10-minute oration titled “The Case for Amending the Constitution.”
Her awards included a $2,000 College Scholarship.
Naperville American Legion Post 43 now has had the Department Winner for the past three years, in addition to having had many other winners in previous years.
Don Hennessy led this oratorical scholarship program for American Legion Post 43 for many years. More recently, the late Neal Kemp took over the program and continued this winning effort with great results.
Now headed by Matt Nelson, Sripathi came up winning the 7th & 8th Grade Oratorical Contest for Post 43.
The National Oratorical Contest is May 17-18 at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan.
This scholarship award is just one of many of the American Legion Youth Programs that Post 43 supports.
“Watch for more of these programs as we continue to move forward in support of local youth,” added Wayne Fischer for American Legion Post 43.
