Jolene Stubbings Of West Nassau High School Wins 2015 Rotary Oratory Final Competition

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Feb. 17, 2015 - PRLog -- Jolene Stubbings, a senior at West Nassau High School in Northeast Florida, competed against five other First Coast area high school seniors to win first place in the 2015 Rotary Oratory Competition. Abby Murphy of Creekside High School in St. Johns County won second place.

Stubbings, who spoke on the topic of financial literacy, won a total of $4,600 in scholarship funds, which included receiving a $500 scholarship by winning her regional competition, $4,000 for first place in the finals and a $100 college starter savings account from 121 Financial Credit Union.

Murphy took home $2,600 in scholarship funds, winning her regional, winning second place in the finals and receiving a college starter savings account.

Stubbings began her pursuit of the title by competing to represent her high school, where she advanced to the regionals. From there she went on to the finals. The Rotary Oratory Competition, a project by the Rotary Club of South Jacksonville, started with competition at 25 area high schools. With the help of five area Rotary Clubs, six regionals were conducted to narrow the field of competitors to six participants.

The finals were held at the University of North Florida before a crowd of approximately 200 people. In attendance were school board members from Clay, Duval and St. Johns counties. The other finalists included Olivia Ade of Episcopal High School, Dwight James of Douglas Anderson, Ryan Merrill of Orange Park High School, and Duneshka Moran-Deleon, Baldwin High School.

As the 2015 winner, Stubbings will also be invited to appear on the 121 Financial Credit Union’s “4 Your Money” segment on WJXT-TV and Clear Channel Outdoor will feature her on a digital billboard on I-95 near the airport.

121 Financial was the title sponsor of the event; the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute was the regional sponsor; and Sawgrass Asset Management was the runner up scholarship sponsor.

For more information on the Southside Rotary speech project, email Rotaryexecsec@aol.com.

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