Rotary District 7850 Speech Contest Round Two
A group of Rotarians from our Club and from the Rotary Club of Hanover came together to hear Riley Naylor present her speech for a second time. We gathered at Centurion Office Building, 2 Buck Road in Hanover at 11:00 AM. Riley was required to present the speech a second time in order to be qualified to move on to round three of the speech contest. Round three will be held at a special District 7850 meeting at Northern Vermont University on March 16th.
Speech Contestant, Riley Naylor
For 2024, students were asked to prepare a 5-minute speech about, “How can we increase hope for our schools?”
Joy Gobin and Riley Naylor prior to the start of Round Two.
Phil Rentz presenting Riley with her Round One check for $200.
Her prize for Round Two will be presented at the district level contest.
Member from our club who came to the contest were: Phil Rentz, Bruce Pacht, Joy Gobin, John Yacavone, Bill Secord, Ron Bedell, Marilyn Bedell. Members from Hanover included our Assistant Governor, John Hochreiter; Club President, Bruce Atwood; President-elect Bob Haynes; Kathy Geraghty, and Shelly Hochreiter
Click on read more if you want to learn more about the content of Riley's speech, and for additional details about the contest rules.
Here is a brief summary of Riley’s speech.
Riley began her talk by stating:
“Hope presents itself to every person in various ways. Hope is waiting for the results of a test you studied hard for, hope is getting a character in a play, of varsity in your sport Hope is wanting to make a new friend. Hope is the end goal we all want. Something about hope that is important to realize, is that it’s not just an idea or a feeling that gets lost on us when we desire something. Hope is a steppingstone to allow us to better ourselves. It is the gateway that allows a person to move forward, and work to building a future we feel joyful to be in. To quote Jonas Slak, ‘Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams a reality’.”
Some other points that Riely made about hope:
- “The easiest way to find hope is to find a dream worth chasing.”
- She talked about the anxiety felt by school students and how that anxiety can interfere with feelings of hope.
- Of note, she shared the 31.0% of American adolescents from the age of 13-18 have been diagnosed with anxiety.
- She reflected on a time in 7th grade when she got a “D” on and exam, and how she worried all day about how she was going to share this grade with her mother. She stated, “On my way home from school, my mind reeled about what I was going to say, my heart was dropping to my stomach as I prepared to tell my parents that their A+ daughter just got a “D”.” Riley shared the news, told her mother she would “fix it” by studying more. She then shared, “And how did my mom respond to this complete destruction of my mental state that I’d been carrying the whole day?” Her mom’s response was “Okay”. “I didn’t know if I should be relieved or disappointed in her lack of concern for her ’favorite child’.”
- She challenged us (Rotary Club of Lebanon) to explore ways to change educational symptoms to help lessen anxiety.
- She ended her talk reflecting on Rotary’s mission “to provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill and peace through fellowship of business, professional and community leaders.” Riley stated, “Rotary can be an organization that "can align its mission to creating hope in educational atmosphere to build understanding of differences, allowing those differences to become opportunities for leadership, and using integrity to build better futures for others."
Who is eligible to complete and receive contest prizes?
Any High School Student or high school aged student who resides in the club’s service area is eligible, unless student has been a previous District 7850 Final Contest Winner.
Cash Prizes:
- Club Round 1 – Prize $200 – Held at our club meeting on January 25, 2024.
- Area Round 2 – Prize $300 – Tentatively, to be held on February 29, 2024, at our meeting.
- District Round 3 – Prize $500 Tentatively, to be held on Saturday, March 16th.
- District Round 4 – Prize $750 Winner & Prize $500 Runner-up
Two Contestants from Round 3 will speak at District 7850 Conference held Sat April 20, 2024, at Lake Morey Inn, Fairlee, VT. Estimated time 11am-1pm.