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Phoenix Rotary l00's Speech Contest will be held this school year (2024-
2025) within the House of Representatives Building at the State Capital. This will
be our 94th year, in what we believe is the longest running speech contest in
Arizona. Invitations are sent to High Schools throughout Arizona and our contest is
open to any high-school aged student within our state. Over the last few years, we
have had students participate from throughout the Metro Phoenix area, as well as
Tucson, Flagstaff, Oro Valley, Prescott and Cottonwood. Several students were
home-schooled.
Last year, we had over 80 contestants and their coaches participate, and we
had approximately 40 volunteers (mostly Rotarians) run the contest. All the
contestants give their speeches in the morning with teams of Rotarians acting as
judges and timekeepers (we have a short training prior to the speeches so the
volunteers know what to do). Finalists give their afternoon speeches from the
Chamber within the House of Representatives. The following week, the four Upper
Division Finalists give one last speech in front of our Rotary Club during our
Friday lunch meeting, and then we hand out trophies and College Scholarships to
the top 8 participants (two Freshmen, two Sophomores, two Juniors and two
Seniors).
The costs for this project are significant and include college
scholarships/trophies for the winners and two Coaches A wards, food for the
participants and volunteers at the House of Representatives, and room rental and
lunch for the Finals and Awards Ceremony. Phoenix Rotary 100 would appreciate
participation by District 5495, which would be acknowledged in the project
publicity and during the awards ceremony.
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