Saturday, December 6, 2008

To win this trip, students must complete the essay and speech. 

After turning in the essay by November 14th, the next step is to see how many students we have competing.  If we have more than 6 students turn in essays, only the contestants with the top 6 essay scores will be invited to the speech contest. Please be sure to see the Essay Information.

The Speak-off is worth the remaining 70% of the scoring on this contest.  It will be held Saturday, December 6, 2008 in Albany and will take most of the day!

This year's Speak-off will be held in Albany.  It will begin at 10:30am when you will be taken on a tour. Examples of past tours are phone companies,  manufacturing plants, nursing homes, etc. You will not be told what the tour will be of until the time of the tour.

After the tour we will return to the local lodge for lunch.  You will then have the rest of the afternoon to prepare a speech about the tour. The speech will not be about your essay or about the United Nations. There will be a dinner at the lodge at 5:00pm. The speech contest will begin at around 6:00pm. You will be required to remain at the lodge during this entire period. The speech is to be from 5 to 7 minutes long.  Your family and friends are invited to the dinner and the speak-off.  The winner (or winners) of the contest, and trip, will be announced that evening after the speeches have been evaluated.

If for any reason you cannot take the tour or remain at our lodge, you will not be allowed to give a speech and will not have a chance to win the contest.

Keep in mind that all contestants will have the same amount of time to prepare their speeches.  Obviously, we are not expecting a well prepared, practiced speech.  We do it this way to see how you would be able to tell others about the trip you might win.