RUHS Sophomore Laura Holt Wins Rotary Speech Contest

RUHS Sophomore Laura Holt Wins Rotary Speech Contest

A Randolph Union High School sophomore, Laura Holt, won the second annual Rotary Speech Contest earlier this month.

Laura, the daughter of Sonny and Deb Holt of Randolph, won $100 for her speech and could win up to a total of $1000 in the event, which includes three more contests, concluding next June.

Narissa Rich, also an RUHS sophomore and the daughter of George and Irene Rich, won $50 for her second place finish.

The second annual speech contest was held as part of the weekly meeting of the Randolph Rotary Club Nov. 7. Six young women, freshmen and sophomores at the high school, accepted the challenge of giving a speech of up to five minutes on the theme "Sow the Seeds of Love."

Besides Holt and Rich, the contestants were Alison Marchione, Alaina Ryan, Jessica Heath, and Abby Swant. All had put thought into their talks and included personal anecdotes and quotes from people like Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King.

The students were recruited by RUHS English and dramatics teacher Charlie McMeekin, who also helped train them in writing and presenting their speeches. McMeekin also accompanied the students to the contest and received a round of applause for his role.

Six Rotarians acted as judges.

In Rotary's first speech contest last year, Nika Graci also won at the next level of the contest, winning $250 altogether.