The 4Way Speech Contest is a contest that students participate in and create a speech on any topic that they would like as long as it meets the four requirements: Is it the truth, is it fair to all concerned, will it build goodwill and better friendships, will it be beneficial to all concerned? This year, there were five contestants: freshmen Lucy Lytle and Samantha Gartner, sophomores Kaylana Ebling and Koa Binder, and Senior Ella Lytle. All of the girls had very nice essays, some about religion, some about young voters, and some about mental health. Saying these speeches can take a lot of bravery, and it especially did for Samantha. “On my topic of mental health, I felt extremely vulnerable up there in front of the judges and the peers around me because I felt like I was sharing a part of me that I haven’t really talked about too much,” she states. It can be very intimidating having to present the speech to the judges while also having fellow peers and competitors behind the speaker listening. Samantha enjoyed participating in it and thought that it helped her see her flaws and areas of improvement with public speaking. Samantha says, “I plan on doing it next year, as I feel like I can prove that I can do a lot better and there’s so many subjects I want to get out there that I feel like I have the opportunity to spread through the speech competition. I hope more people do it next year because it’s an inspiration to the other people in this school and in the contest.’’
The winner of the contest was Koa Binder and she got to advance to the regionals. The regionals were held at Penn State Berks. Although she did not win regionals, she still enjoyed participating and would recommend any students interested to participate.
