Munster teen headed to regional oratorical contest Sunday

MUNSTER | Munster High School junior Deepa Devanathan is headed to the regional finals Sunday in Kouts for the Department of Indiana American Legion high school oratorical scholarship competition.

Devanathan won the 1st District contest held Jan. 30 at her high school speaking on the First Amendment right for people to peaceably assemble in order to effect change in government, according to a news release from the American Legion Hammond Post 16. The 1st District encompasses Lake County.

"In the class I take (called) We the People, we learned about our First Amendment rights to assemble and through that I learned how important it is that people actually come together and make a difference in our country," said Devanathan, 16. She used the Tea Party movement as an example on the national level and said it's important for the youth to get involved through social networking such as Facebook.

"I want to influence people. We can't just sit here and expect things to get done ... we have to actually get things done and that's how it works."

A total of 13 high school students from Munster and Highland competed for the right to advance to the Indiana regional competition in a preliminary round and final round. District winners advance to the regional finals, with that winner advancing to the state contest March 13 in Indianapolis. State winners garner more than $3,400 in scholarship money while the national first-, second- and third-place winners receive $18,000, $16,000 and $14,000, respectively. The competition is open to all high schools.

The American Legion oratorical competition has been conducted for 74 years. Student competitors deliver an eight- to 10-minute speech on some aspect of the U.S. Constitution, with emphasis on attendant duties of citizenship. Beyond the district level competition, a second three- to five-minute speech on a randomly selected topic is also presented.