Spreading the Word

County Students Getting Creative for 4-H/Tropicana Public Speaking Contest

- TERESA SCHIFFER

THE 2020 4-H/TROPICANA PUBLIC SPEAKING CONTEST is taking place this month, encouraging students throughout Florida to practice their skills at writing and delivering speeches. Tropicana has been sponsoring this annual event since 1969. Every year, more than 150,000 children in grades 4-6 participate in this fun and challenging contest. Nearly 2 million students have taken part since the program’s inception. This year, almost 2,000 students from Highlands County submitted their speeches for judging.

Alexis Cooper, Highlands County 4-H Program Assistant, talked to us about the participation of Highlands County students in this year’s contest. Cooper is the point of contact, facilitator, and more for the Highlands County 4-H/Tropicana Speech Contest. She understands the importance of teaching young people how to formulate their ideas and opinions into cogent statements that can be expressed verbally to a public audience.