Monday, January 19, 2015 11:04 am

The American Legion Woodbury Post 279 High School Oratorical Scholarship Program "A Constitutional Speech Contest" will conduct local competition Friday January 23^rd at the Cannon County Senior Center.

Several Cannon County High School students will compete for the right to advance to the Tennessee Department level and on to the Nationals with scholarships to the college of their choice as the prize.

Scholarship awards are presented to the three finalists in the final round of the national contest as follows: 1st place: $18,000; 2nd place: $16,000; 3rd place: $14,000. Each department (state) winner who is certified into and participates in the first round of the national contest will receive a $1,500 scholarship. Each first round winner who advances to and participates in the second round, but does not advance to the final round, will receive an additional $1,500 scholarship to pursue education beyond high school.

The scholarships awarded by the national organization of The American Legion to the three finalists, to the department winners, and to the first round winners who are eliminated during the second round of competition may be used to attend any college or university in the United States. A contestant must give both their prepared oration and the assigned topic discourse in order to receive the scholarship.

In addition to the scholarships awarded by the national organization, there are several hundred scholarships awarded at the discretion of the intermediate organizations, to participants at post, district or county, and department levels of competition.

The public is welcome to attend. The event begins at 6 pm.