Local Students Show Off Their Patriotism

ZANESVILLE, Ohio — The Fraternal Order of Eagles hosted a God, Flag, and Country Oratory Competition today at John McIntire Library.

Six area districts combined to send 42 kids between the ages of 10 and 15 to one of the largest competitions in the country. Committee Chairman Jim Hicks said that most districts around the country are lucky to get five or 10 students. He added that the competition started with just one district, but involvement expanded when committee members had the opportunity to present the competition to other local school districts.

“It’s an Americanism type program where we go into the schools and get students to write a speech about God, flag, or country. They present it, and it’s also a training exercise for standing in front of a crowd,” said Hicks.

Students have three minutes to make an oral presentation about what God, the flag, or country means to them before a panel of judges. The first place winners in each of the three age brackets (ages 10-11, 12-13, and 14-15) will move onto the district level in March. Any student, within the age range, that wants to participate has the opportunity to do so.

“The Eagles have been around for 114 years; we have a little over 2,000 members in this area. Coshocton is a part of this program, we have a lodge up there that has over 1,500 members. So we have a lot of people involved in the community. But we really love working with children and the disabled so a lot of our programs go there,” Hicks added.

The panel judges students on a variety of criteria including demeanor, attitude, speech pattern, appearance, posture, and topic. Though Hicks advised it’s more about how the student presents what they are saying, as opposed to what they are saying.

The state winner receives $2,000 and an invitation to compete at the national competition in Michigan this year. The national winner in the 10-11 year old division for the past two years has come from our local competition.