Students place in speech tournament

Written by Christine Harms

The Speech and Debate team was invited to the Richard D. King Annual Youth Speech Contest put on by the Niles Rotary at Washington Hospital, Feb. 4.

Seniors Seth Neumann, Emily Khuc and John Rasure took second, third and fourth places, respectively. Senior Kokei Otosi of Fremont Christian School took first place. She was the only other competitor present. Although Washington could have sent more speakers, they did not want to overload Fremont Christian, who was planning on bringing two students, one of which was unable to attend the event.

Both Neumann and Khuc have participated in the speech contest in the past.

“I really wanted to win this year. I haven’t been able to place first in this contest in previous years and it was my last chance before I graduated,” Neumann said.

Traditionally, only WHS and Fremont Christian School are invited to this event. Both schools are in the Niles Rotary Club. The competitors were to present a speech corresponding to the idea of “the future of Rotary in your hands.” The event was judged by three Rotary members. Otosi, the event winner, will move on to the area level of the competition.

The speech contest is named after Fremont resident Richard D. King. He was the president of Rotary International from 2001 to 2002. He has been involved in the Niles Rotary Club since 1968.

The Rotary is an international community service organization. Every year, the group takes on an international project to aid a third-world country. They also work with students to help gain leadership experience in their communities through the organization’s off-shoot, Interact and events such as the speech contest.

This article originally appeared in print on March 2, 2010. It has been modified to correct style and grammatical errors.