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School Speech Contest
Contestant Information
2015 contest
2015 School Speech Contest
Local Contest – Level 1
For more than 60 years the Modern Woodmen of America
School Speech Contest has provided students with a valuable
personal and academic experience. Today the contest is an
important event in many schools across the nation. Nearly
100,000 students competed last year. Modern Woodmen
provides the trophies, awards and all materials needed to
conduct the contest.
The 2015 contest topic:
“An interesting landmark”
The world is full of landmarks that represent historical,
aesthetic or cultural importance. Landmarks tell a story and add
to the rich fiber of our world. In big cities, small towns and even
in rugged rural fields, buildings, monuments and other structures
or geographic features are considered landmarks – natural or
manmade places of interest that may be easily recognizable or
historically significant.
In this year’s School Speech Contest, you are asked to tell the
story of one landmark. You may want to describe:
• Its location and physical characteristics.
• The history of the landmark itself.
• How the landmark impacted and/or continues to impact
people.
You can consider a landmark of local, national or worldwide
prominence, though it does not have to be officially declared a
landmark. Ideas include, but are not limited to, national parks,
capitol buildings, homes of famous people, museums,
prominent buildings of business and industry or even important
sports arenas.
The speech must be at least three minutes and no longer than
five minutes long. Speeches must be in the students’ own words.
Rules
• The speech content must be your own thoughts and
words on the topic.
• Your speech must be three to five minutes long. Penalty
points will be assessed for speeches over or under the
time limit.
• Your school decides whether your speech must be
memorized or notes can be used at the Level 1 contest
and the Level 2 contest. The school must notify students
of this decision at least two weeks before the contest.
(Notes are not allowed at the Level 3 or Level 4 contests.)
• No props, visuals or costumes! If used, 50 penalty points
will be assessed.
Judging criteria
Contestants will be judged using the following 100-point
system.
40 points for material organization
(Theme and subject adherence, structure, content,
logic, and color)
40 points for delivery and presentation
(Voice, pronunciation, enunciation, gestures and
poise)
20 points for overall effectiveness
(Impression and effect)
(Judging criteria is the same for all levels of contest.)
Find out more at www.modern-woodmen.org.
Awards
• A certificate of participation is presented to recognize each
student’s effort.
• A gold-plated School Speech Contest pin is presented to
each of the highest-ranking contestants.
• Individual trophies are presented to the first-, second- and
third-place winners.
• The contest year and names of first-, second- and thirdplace winners are engraved on the school trophy only.
The School Speech Contest
is one of Modern Woodmen
of America’s free educational
programs available to schools.
Founded in 1883 as a fraternal
benefit society, Modern
Woodmen offers financial
services and fraternal
member benefits to
individuals and families
throughout the United States.
Are you interested in
learning more about Modern Woodmen and our other free
educational programs for kids? Contact your local Modern
Woodmen representative or www.modern-woodmen.org.
Find out how more than a million children in schools, 4-H
clubs, day care centers, scout troops and other youth groups
benefit each year.
Form 1304 (Rev. 9-14)