Academics
Upper School | Gr. 9-12

Severn Students Excelling at Spring Speech Contests

Severn students have been busy honing their oratorical skills this spring, competing in several contests held locally and at Severn. A number of students have also earned the right to move forward in competition by placing 1st in their respective contests
Severn School Speakers competed in the Sons of the American Revolution Oratorical Contest at Glory Days Restaurant in Edgewater, Maryland during spring break. Students wrote original orations which applied a person, concept, or ideal from Revolutionary War Times to today. Ella Aherne ‘24 investigated what our forefathers meant in Amendment 1 by their "peaceful assembly" wording, Luke Becker ‘23 argued that "diplomatic skill" was an essential tool in the establishment of our democracy and remains critical today, and Grace Knipe ‘23 noted how well educated our forefathers were and concluded that a "well educated citizenry" is imperative to continue our democracy. Grace placed 1st in the contest, and by virtue of her first-place win, she will represent the John Paul Jones Chapter in the SAR Maryland State Finals on April 15th at the Maryland Golf and Country Clubs in Bel Air, Maryland.  
 
In addition, Severn hosted the Optimist International Speech Contest on March 27, sponsored by the Fort Smallwood Optimist Club. This year's theme was, "Discovering the Optimism within Me." For their original orations, Jennifer Gomez-Gallado ‘24 won 3rd place; Mason Ervin ’23 won 2nd place, and Jack Shenk won 1st place. By finishing in the top two, Jack and Mason advanced and will next compete in the Zone Competition on Wednesday, April 12th to qualify for the Maryland / Delaware state finals. 
 
Congratulations to all our students who participated and stay tuned for more speech contest updates throughout the spring.
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