South Jacksonville Rotary Seeking High School Senior Participants For Annual Oratory Competition

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Oct. 12, 2016 - PRLog -- The Rotary Club of South Jacksonville, Florida is seeking high school seniors to participate in its 3^rd annual Rotary Oratory Competition.

Seniors, from approximately 45 public and private high schools in the five-county First Coast area, are being invited to compete in a project that involves researching, writing and presenting a speech on a designated topic. Winners will advance to a final event to compete for a $5,000 first place college scholarship, with runner-ups also winning cash scholarships. Gift certificates will be given to each student participating in the competition.

Each high school will determine its representative who will then participate in regional contests. Regionals will be conducted during the last three weeks of January at various Rotary Clubs throughout Northeast Florida. Winners of the regionals will compete in the finals on February 16 at the University of North Florida.

Last year, 20 area seniors competed and approximately $12,000 in scholarships were awarded.

High school seniors who are interested in competing should contact their school principal or student advisor to see if their school has signed up for the competition. They can also contact the Rotary Club of South Jacksonville.

This year's topic is based on Rotary International's six areas of focus to maximize local and global impact of Rotary Projects. They are PROMOTING PEACE, FIGHTING DISEASE, PROVIDING CLEAN WATER, SAVING MOTHERS AND CHILDREN, SUPPORTING EDUCATION, and GROWING LOCAL ECONOMIES.  If you had to pick one of these areas for Rotary to concentrate a project effort, what would it be and why?  Support your conclusion with research, statistics and public opinion, justifying the need for resources directed at this area of focus.

The Southside club is also accepting donations for the Oratory Competition. Additional funds will be used to increase scholarship amounts. To make donations for scholarships, visit GoFundMe.com/gt3tm8.

For more information on the Rotary Oratory project or to be involved in the competition, email Rotaryexecsec@aol.com.