Yesterday, students from the Heritage Conference Schools descended on Homer-Center to take part in the Impromptu Speech competition.
The Impromptu Speech competition is a part of several competitions in the Heritage Conference that focus on academics. Students were given a current events topic, a famous person, or one of two quotes to speak about before a panel of judges, which included Mark Bertig, Jim DeCesare and Mark Hilliard of Renda Broadcasting. This year the topics included: social media as a tool for future success, advice to President Donald Trump about the checks and balances system, and quotes from Albert Einstein and Mitch Albom. The students will usually have a short amount of time for research and speech composition before delivering it. Deann Margolis, the organizer of the competition, said this year’s contenders were among the best that she’s seen in the 15 years of the competition. She felt that was the case because the topics spoke to the students and were very relevant to their generation.
This year’s winners were the Ligonier Valley school district, and Madie Henderson of Ligonier Valley said the hard work that she and her team did for the competition paid off.
Her teammates included junior Zach Peltz-Palko, sophomore Sydney Damon, and freshman Isabella Wentzell.
Madie Henderson about winning the competition
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(Ligonier Valley’s Team with their Heritage Conference Impromptu Speech Contest Award. Photo by Mark Bertig)
