Six middle school students competed in the final round of the annual 4-Way Speech contest hosted by the Rotary Club of McMinnville and coordinated by Pattie Waltz, director of Human Resources for the McMinnville School District.
Students (from left) Annie Clayton, Kaylani Kam, Ailie Johnson, Laura Denney, Tara Vogel and Ben Sparrow first competed at the school level before being chosen to present their speech at the March Rotary luncheon. The Rotarians rated the speeches based on ideas and content, organization, language and delivery. Students were also awarded points for keeping the speech between 3:30 and 4:30 minutes.
The winning speech by Patton’s Tara Vogel was about her experiences with gender stereotyping connected to her plans for becoming a physician.
The contest is based on the guiding principles of the Rotary 4-Way test: “Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?”
Tara will now represent McMinnville at the district competition on May 21 in Vancouver.