District 10 American Legion invites high school students to compete in speech contest:
Winners will earn scholarship money, chance to compete in national finals. High school students grade 9 through 12 attending all accredited schools in Brown, Nemaha, Marshall and Washington counties are invited by the Marysville American Legion Post 163 to compete in the annual American Legion High School Oratorical Scholarship Program to be held at 10 AM on Saturday February 7, 2026 at the Marysville Legion Post 163, 310 Veterans Memorial Dr. in Marysville. The invitation to enter the competition was extended today by Jim Swim, District 10 Oratorical Committee Chair.
The subject in the prepared oration portion of the contest must be about some phase of the Constitution of the United States, emphasizing the duties and obligations of a citizen to the U. S. government. The prepared oration must be the original effort of each contestant and must be 8-10 minutes in length. District 10 Scholarships will be awarded to the first 3 place finishers in the amount of 1 st place - $500, 2 nd place - $300 and 3 rd place $200. The winner of the District 10 competition will advance to the State Contest to be held at the Wichita Legion Post 444 on March 7, 2026. State Scholarships will be awarded to 1st place - $1000, 2 nd place - $500, 3 rd place - $250 and 4 th place $150 finishers.
The winner of the State Competition will advance to the National Contest representing Kansas. In addition to the awards by winners of the various elimination rounds of competition, college scholarships of $25,000, $22,500, and $20,000 will be awarded to the first through third places in the national finals. Each state winner who competes in the first round of the national contest will receive a $2,000 scholarship. Participants in the second round who do not advance to the national final round will receive an additional $2,000 scholarship. The top three youth orators who have won all previous elimination rounds of the contest will vie for top honors in the national contest on May 15 - 17 at Hillsdale College in Michigan. The American Legion will pay the expenses of state winners at the national contest.
All High school students who are interested in entering the competition may request an application packet by contacting Jim Swim at 785-562-8390 or email jlswimj@gmail.com
You may also contact your High School counselor’s office to receive an application packet. The application submission deadline is January 27, 2026.
For more information, please visit Oratorical Contest – Kansas Department of The American Legion.
CLICK THIS LINK to get more info about the event.
