MARYLAND ORATORICAL AND SCHOLARSHIP COMPETITION
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 Department of Maryland ​

Oratorical Scholarship Competition





For high school students who want to compete in the
​Maryland American Legion Oratorical Contest.



​​Participation requires oration on some phase of the Constitution of the United States.
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National and State Contest Dates

NATIONAL CONTESTS are April 9-11, 2021, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Maryland sends one contestant to the first of the three National rounds. The top three national finalists earn berths in Original Oratory at the National Speech & Debate national tournament. National winners also win a trip to the National Convention in August. 

The road to the National Contest looks like this: 
  1. Post Contests: January 2021. The American Legion Post is the primary entity of our organization. You will begin your competition here. Contestants should commit to and start to write, memorize, and practice their speeches by Thanksgiving or at least by the December school break time!
  2. County Contests: Early February 2021.  Each Maryland county has between 2 and 17 Legion Posts and the county competition is the next step for the Post winners. You can usually expect 3-5 competitors at this level. 
  3. District Contests: Late February 2021. There are seven Legion districts in Maryland. Each district is comprised of between 2 and 6 counties but you can usually expect 2-4 competitors at this level. 
  4. State Finals On Sunday, March 7, 2021.  This year's contest will be held at Stevenson University in Owing Mills, MD.  ​Not only does the winner of the state contest go to the national contest in April, but we invite you to speak at our state convention in Ocean City on July 14-15, 2021.   
Get Details About the State/Department Contest
Contact Us! ​Choose the District of the County in which you live or go to school:

Baltimore District: Baltimore City
Mountain District Counties: Allegany, Garrett
North Central District Counties: Baltimore, Harford, Howard
North Eastern Shore District Counties: Caroline, Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot
South Eastern Shore District Counties: Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico, Worcester
Southern Maryland District Counties: Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, Prince Georges, St. Mary's
Western Maryland District Counties: Carroll, Frederick, Washington

​National American Legion, Oratorical Program

Department of Maryland Headquarters

Department Oratorical Chair, ​Anita Trotter 
​anitatrotter@comcast.net
​

Assistant Adjutant ​Steve Tatro 
steve@mdlegion.org

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