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Phoenix Rotary l00's Speech Contest will be held this school year (2025-2026) within the House of Representatives Building at the State Capital. This will be our 96th year, in what we believe is the longest running speech contest in Arizona. Invitations are sent to High Schools throughout Arizona and our contest is open to any high-school aged student within our state. Over the last few years, we have had students participate from throughout the Metro Phoenix area, as well as Tucson, Flagstaff, Oro Valley, Prescott and Cottonwood. Several students were home-schooled.
Last year, 71 contestants and their coaches participated representing 25 high schools, and we had approximately 42 volunteers (mostly Rotarians) run the contest. All the contestants give their speeches in the morning with teams of Rotarians acting as judges and timekeepers (we have a short training course prior to the speeches so the volunteers know what to do). Finalists give their afternoon speeches from the Chamber within the House of Representatives. The following week, the four Upper Division Finalists give one last speech in front of our Rotary Club during our Friday lunch meeting, and then we handed out trophies and College Scholarships to the top 8 participants (two Freshmen, two Sophomores, two Juniors and two Seniors).
The costs for this project are significant and include college scholarships/trophies for the winners and two Coaches Awards, food for the participants and volunteers at the House of Representatives, and room rental and lunch for the Finals and Awards Ceremony. Phoenix Rotary 100 would appreciate participation by District 5495, which would be acknowledged in the project publicity and during the awards ceremony.
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