2010 Oratorical Topic
Cyber Communication: Progress or
Problem?
CALSO District 41 Oratorical Chairs
SHEILA
MOSS
(North County)
Kensington Optimist Club of San Diego
619-295-9457
FRAN CORNELL
(South County)
Optimist Club of Bonita
619-472-2205
DEBBIE LUTZ
(East County)
Optimist Club of El Cajon
619-660-0550
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It's
time to plan your Optimist club's Oratorical Contest. Do you have your
oratorical chair and committee in place? Have your determined your
competition dates and location? Due to the Spring breaks this year all
Optimist Club's need to hold the competition by March 19th or no later than
April 9th. Zone competition should be held no later than April 30th.
CALSO District finals are a part of the 3rd Quarterly Meeting and will be held
at Grossmont College on May 15th, 2010. [NOTE: There will be no
District Semi-Final Oratorical contest as we have held in past
years.] How are you publicizing the contest to the schools in your
area as well as those students who are home schooled?
Do you have information on your Optimist Club's web site?
This years topic "Cyber Communication: Progress or Problem?" is definitely
a hot topic both with the younger generation and their elders.
We need to hear them thoughtfully express their opinions on the subject.
Make your plans now, download the materials needed from the Optimist
International web site, Optimist
International Oratorical Contest
and if you have
any questions, contact one of the District Oratorical Chairs in your area listed
above.
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OPTIMIST
ORATORICAL CONTEST:
Providing
youngsters with the opportunity to express themselves and gain confidence in
their abilities, has been a focus for the Optimists since 1928, when they
developed the Optimist Oratorical Contest.
It provides young people with the opportunity to compete for a college
scholarship and express their views on a pre-assigned topic.
Interested
students prepare a speech on the pre-assigned topic to be presented at their
local Optimist Club’s contest. The speeches are judged at the club level, zone
level and finally at the district level.
Today,
the Optimist Oratorical Contest is the
most popular and widely conducted service project of Optimist Clubs.
An estimated 2,000 Optimist Clubs are conducting Oratorical Contests
every year.
Each year, club competitions involve more than 20,00 young people. An estimated two million youth have been positively impacted by their experiences in the Optimist Oratorical Contest
It
has also served as a training ground for youngsters who have grown up and
achieved successful careers in speech and the performing arts.
Neil Patrick Harris, former star of the "Doogie Howser, MD"
television show won his club, zone, and district contest in Albuquerque, New
Mexico in 1986. Actress Julia
Roberts won her club contest as a youth in Smyrna, Georgia.
CLUB
PARTICIPATION: We look forward to each Club, as soon as possible, appointing
an Oratorical Chair and participating in the Oratorical Contest. The Chair
should contact the schools as close to the start of the school year as possible,
to give them the chance to work the contest into their curriculum.
Both the National Association of Secondary School Principals and
the American Association of School Administrators recommends the
program.
This
endorsement can go a long way when your club is requesting that principals and
teachers offer this program to their students.
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AWARDS:
The following are the ONLY awards to be given in the Optimist International
Oratorical Contest at all Club, Zone and District contests.
·
Club Level – The Official Optimist International Medallion must be awarded. They may be awarded as first, second and third, or first
second and runner up.
·
Zone level - Plaque
·
District level - Plaque and Scholarships-The District will award $5,000 in
Scholarships. The District will
award the top boy and girl winner a $2,500 College Scholarship. NO OTHER
AWARDS ARE AUTHORIZED
·
Participation Certificates are recommended for all levels of competition.
NOTE:
You can order an “Oratorical Supply Kit”
Item: 713. Your Price: $42.00 -
This kit makes planning your Oratorical Contest easy! Contains a 1st, 2nd, and
3rd place medallion, 2 posters, 1 pack of rules, 1 pack of Club Certificates (10
per pack), 5 pens, and 5 lapel pins. (Items may also be ordered separately).
VERY IMPORTANT:
CALSO
District has elected to have separate gender contests.
This decision will be uniform throughout each Club and Zone.
NO EXCEPTIONS.
ELIGIBILITY:
Contestants shall not have attained the age of 16
years prior to or on January 1 of the current school year.
There is no minimum age.
APPLICATION: Make photocopies of pages 87/88 of the 2002-2003
International Programs, Planning Guide (PPG) or purchase “Tear Pads” of the
application from Shumsky Enterprises. You
can also access the Optimist International Website at: www.optimist.org
and download all or any part of the required forms and instructions needed for
the contest. (Follow the
Step-by-step instructions.)
WHEN
TO CONDUCT THE CLUB LEVEL
CONTEST:
Clubs should conduct their Oratorical Contest between the periods of
March 19, 2010 - April 9,2010.
Required credentials: (original and
two copies of the application; original and two copies of the speech; original
and two copies of the Official Zone/Regional/District Entry Form; {page 101 PPG}
and a copy of the birth certificate), on the finalist, one male and one female,
must be forwarded to the Zone Lieutenant Governor. Ensure that the properly
completed forms reach the Zone Lieutenant Governor no later than April 10,
2010. It is very important that
you submit all of the above forms, properly completed, in the quantity
indicated.
WHEN
TO CONDUCT THE
ZONE LEVEL CONTEST: Lieutenant
Governors should ensure that their Zone Level Contests are conducted, prior to
or between the period April 10, - April
20, 2010.
The required credentials;
(original and one copy of the application, original and one copy of the
speech original and one copy of the Official Zone/Regional/District Entry form,
and a copy of the birth certificate, on the finalist of the contest), are to be
submitted to the District Chair, as soon as possible, but no later than April
25, 2010. It is very
important that you submit all of the above forms, timely, and in the quantity
indicated.
DISTRICT Contest will be conducted:
Saturday
May
15, 2010
Place:
Theater Building 220
Time:
1:00 PM
Grossmont Community
College
8800 Grossmont College Drive
El Cajon, CA 92020
Note: One male and one female will be
selected as winners and awarded a Plaque and each a $2,500 College
Scholarship.
ORATORICAL
PROGRAM GUIDE: Each
Club President was sent the 2009-2010 International Programs Planning Guide. The planning guide contains instructions on the Oratorical
Contest (between pages 77-108). These
instructions should be extracted and or photocopied and provided to the
Oratorical Chair.
CLUB
ORATORICAL CHAIRS: It's requested that Club Presidents forward the name
of their Oratorical Chair and the dates of their Oratorical Contest to
one of the District Oratorical Chairs as soon as possible.
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