On March 1, Marisa Parikh, a Bedford student, won the state-level competition for the American Legion Student Oratorical Contest, held this year in the Norfolk/Portsmouth area.
Marisa is a senior at Liberty High School and is also enrolled in the Early College Program at Central Virginia Community College.
She will next compete in the national-level competition to be held in mid-May at Hillsdale College in Michigan. American Legion state-level departments in the 50 states and some overseas areas may each send one student to compete.
The competition requires students to research, write, and prepare to deliver from memory an 8-10 minute oration on some aspect of the U.S. Constitution and four additional 3-5 minute orations on assigned topics dealing with the Constitution, usually individual Amendments. Participants are to place some emphasis on the duties and obligations of citizens to our government.
On the day of competition, students must stand in front of an audience and deliver their orations with no notes, no microphone, no podium, and no props or other means of assistance. After all participants have completed their 8-10 minute orations, one of the four 3-5 minute topics is chosen, and the participants then deliver their orations on the selected topic. Students are penalized if their orations are shorter or longer than the prescribed time limits.
In January and February, Marisa won three earlier rounds in the competition at the post level held at Bedford’s American Legion Post 54, at the district level held at Post 16 in Lynchburg, and at the region level held at Post 3 in Salem.
Representatives from Bedford’s Post 54 and Marisa’s family members have accompanied and supported Marisa at each level of competition.
Winners at the lower levels of competition are awarded cash prizes. The top three winners in the national-level competition win scholarships of $25,000, $22,500, and $20,000.
For more information about the American Legion or the student oratorical contest, please contact Bedford American Legion Post 54 Commander Nick Soukhanov (540-875-9014) or Youth Chairman Jim Morrison (540-721-1991).
