I am raising awareness about various American Legion Scholarships that are available to freshman through senior high school students. Two programs that I encourage people to check out are the American Legional Oratorical Contest (9-12 grade) that awards scholarships up to $18,000, and The American Legion Samsung Scholarship which awards up to $20,000 in scholarships. (must attend Boys or Girls State to be eligible). You can find more information on the American Legion website and I am also willing to serve as a resource if anyone has any questions.
Thanks for posting! I attended Girls State many years ago, and my son just got an invitation to go to Boys State today. I enjoyed it and had a great experience and I was wondering if it was still a worthwhile activity or has become just a money-raising-ego-stoking thing like the Who’s Who books (are those still around?).
My two cents: the oratorical contest is ideal for juniors and younger. Seniors should focus on the Samsung Scholarship unless they already have a deep background in the content that would’ve been in their contest speech/experience with oratorical contests.
General rule of thumb: essay contests, video creating contests, greeting card contests, other kinds of specific-skill/specific-topic contests (Ayn Rand essay contests) etc, aren’t worth it unless you already have that content good to go, or can generate it quickly (and well).
I believe that Girl’s State and Boy’s State is still a worthwhile experience for students that have just completed their junior year of high school. If they attend either one and want to apply for the Samsung Scholarship, it must be completed by the day they attend (or at least that is how it is in our state). It is a lengthy application, but it can definitely be worth the effort! The application is often out in the early spring.
In regards to the Oratorical contest, I believe it is ideal to get involved early (as early as freshman year). The topics are posted well in advance of the contest date and students have ample time to prepare for the essays, but prior speech experience is helpful. There are several levels of competition and each level offers a monetary award, although the largest award is given at the National level.
My daughter got involved as a freshman and was able to represent the state at the National level her junior and senior year. Each year of experience allowed her to improve her speaking skills and improve the content of her speeches. The overall experience was excellent and well worth the effort. Even if students don’t win the “big” award, it is an excellent opportunity to learn more about our Constitution while improving speaking and writing skills. On top of that, students are able to meet many people from across the area/state and country.
I wanted to bump this thread since many students are in the process of figuring out where they want to go to school and how they are going to pay for school.
I am raising awareness about various American Legion Scholarships that are available to freshman through senior high school students. Two programs that I encourage people to check out are the American Legional Oratorical Contest (9-12 grade) that awards scholarships up to $18,000, and The American Legion Samsung Scholarship which awards up to $20,000 in scholarships. (must attend Boys or Girls State to be eligible). You can find more information on the American Legion website and I am also willing to serve as a resource if anyone has any questions.