Printer Friendly Version - Rotary Clubs Welcome VRHS Students for Speech Contest

Valley Regional High School student contestants in the Rotary clubs of Chester, Deep River, and Essex Four-Way Test Speech Contest were Katie Morrissey, Lindsey Madden, Celia Robbins, runner-up Caroline Haskins, winner Sophie Spaner, Maggie DiPierdomenico, Gabby Pitruzzello, and Maeve Collins. Photo courtesy of Jan Taigen

On Feb. 23, the Rotary clubs of Chester, Deep River, and Essex welcomed eight students to the Richard H. Smith Town Hall in Deep River for the second Four-Way Test Speech Contest for Valley Regional High School (VRHS).

The winning speaker was Sophie Spaner, a VRHS junior from Deep River, who spoke about the ethics of censoring comedy. As the winner, Spaner received a $150 honorarium and will continue on to the Rotary District semi-final speech competition on Saturday, April 27. The top two at the semi-finals also continue to the district final on Saturday, May 18.

The students’ challenge was to analyze the ethics of a topic using the Rotary Four-Way Test: 1) Is it the truth? 2) Is it fair to all concerned? 3) Will it build goodwill and better friendships? and 4) Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

Students were judged by a panel of seven community leaders, which included Chester First Selectman Lauren Gister, George “Bud” Eckenroth from Deep River Board of Finance, Essex Selectman Stacia Libby, Attorney John Ivimey from Chester Rotary, Reverend Tim Hout from Deep River Rotary, Dr. Tim Tobin from Essex Rotary, and Rotary Assistant Governor Tari Marshall-Day.

Freshman Caroline Haskins of Essex was selected as the runner-up, and received a $50 honorarium. Haskins spoke about the ethics of gender stereotyping.

Other contestants included junior Maeve Collins of Essex, who spoke on the inclusion of personal lives in political reporting; sophomore Katherine Morrissey of Deep River who spoke of the treatment of Germany following World War I; junior Lindsey Madden of Deep River who spoke on the insincerity of our use of the word “sorry”; junior Gabby Pitruzzello of Chester, who spoke on the dark web; sophomore Celia Robbins of Deep River, who spoke on teenage crankiness and sleep deprivation; and junior Maggie Dipierdomenico of Essex, who spoke on high school stress.