Welcome to
The American Legion
Department of Arkansas
P.O. Box 3280
Little Rock, AR 72203
Toll Free: 1-877-243-9799 -- Ph: 501-375-1104 -- Fax: 501-375-4236
eMail:
Department Commander Dwight Earnest - Department Adjutant G. "Dub" Allen
"Still Serving America"
Related Links
(Adobe Acrobat Reader required to open Portable Document Files (PDF). Download Free.)
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. (April 7, 2008) – An Arkansas youth has capped a busy weekend of competition in Indianapolis by earning a $16,000 college scholarship in the American Legion National Oratorical Competition. The title of her oration is: “Our Constitution: Born In Conflict, Nurtured By Debate.”
Virginia “Ginger” Macfarlan, a 16-yr. old home-schooled student from Siloam Springs, Ark., started the weekend as one of 53 state champions in the 71st annual American Legion National High School Oratorical Scholarship Program – “A Constitutional Speech Contest” and advanced to the top through three rounds of intense competition.
Macfarlan earned a $16,000 scholarship for her second-place efforts, and also received $1,500 for making it to the finals. She had already received $3,500 for winning the Arkansas competition, making her total scholarship winnings $21,000.00. “Ms. Macfarlan placed the highest of any Arkansas student in the history of this national competition,” says Roger Lacy, American Legion Department of Arkansas Oratorical Chairman. “She deserves state-wide recognition for her national achievement, and we’re extremely proud of her.” The scholarships account for a small portion of the roughly $3.5 million in post-secondary scholarships that The American Legion, the nation’s largest veterans organization, awards annually.
In each round of the weekend national competition, orators delivered a rehearsed 8- to 10-minute address and a randomly assigned 3- to 5-minute oration on a constitutional topic, each without the benefit of notes and in front of a live audience, including the judges. The 2.7-million member American Legion developed the contest primarily to instill a better knowledge and appreciation of the Constitution of the United States. In addition, other objectives of the contest include the development of leadership qualities, the ability to encourage young people to improve their communications skills by learning to think and speak clearly, and the preparation for the acceptance of the duties, responsibilities, rights, and privileges of American citizenship.
________________________________________________
See "Related Links" below to view
Ms. MacFarlan's Oration in PDF or Microsoft Word
For more information (and to view contest video), please visit the American Legion National Headquarters Web site at www.legion.org/, or contact Bo Winchell, American Legion Department Adjutant, at (501) 375- 1104, or visit the American Legion Department of Arkansas Web site at: www.arlegion.org/oratorical.
George (Keith) Dover
Public Relations Chairman (East)
American Legion Department of Arkansas
Home: (501) 614-3288
Cell: (501) 607-4708
Fax: (501) 664-1809
E-mail: kdover@spp.org
Arkansas Home-Schooled Student
Finishes Second in National Oratorical Competition
Virginia “Ginger” MacFarlan receives National Oratorical Award from American Legion National Commander Martin Conatser. (Photo courtesy National Headquarters.)
