Knoch senior will speak in state contest
RENFREW — For the first time in more than a decade, a Butler County teen will compete in the American Legion Oratorical Contest at the state level.
Knoch senior Katie Conlon, 18, daughter of Ray and Nance Conlon of Renfrew, will deliver two speeches on the U.S. Constitution at the state capital building Saturday.
The American Legion Oratorical Contest, which has operated for more than 75 years, challenges students to deliver an eight- to 10-minute prepared oration on the U.S. Constitution and a three- to five-minute oration on an assigned topic — also based on the U.S. Constitution — delivered from memory.
On the line for the three state finalists is a total of $16,500 in scholarships. Also, the first-place finisher will travel to Indianapolis in April to compete for an $18,000 scholarship.
Conlon, sponsored by the Saxonburg American Legion Post, has placed first in each of the four levels of competition she has entered, most recently the Feb. 18 Western Section Oratorical in Butler.
“It’s definitely something I’m glad I got involved in. I’m a member of the speech and debate team at Knoch,” Conlon said.
She said she was signed up for the competition by her history teacher but had forgotten about it until a week before the first oration was to occur.
“(Eight to 10 minutes) definitely is a long time. Usually, for speech and debate, I speak for four minutes,” Conlon said.
“I know it so well, though, at this point, I tend to speak faster than I should.”
Conlon said she looks at the word count of her speech to determine how long it will take to orate.
In a statement, John S. Pritchard, chairman of the American Legion Butler County Oratorical Contest, had high praise for Conlon.
“I have worked with almost a hundred students over the years on the oratorical. The two qualities that impress me most about Katie are, one, she is extremely focused and, two, she has a certain command presence about her when she enters a room to deliver her speech,” he stated.
Conlon said she already has been accepted into the Honors Tutorial College at Ohio University, but has not yet made any decision on her educational future, as she is still waiting on responses from other institutions.
