New Sharon Senior High Student To Represent Iowa In National Contest
Caleb Gipple
New Sharon, Iowa – Practice and polish are just a few of the things Caleb Gipple will be doing to prepare himself for the national oratorical speech contest hosted by the American Legion.
On January 22nd of this year, Gipple took home first place at the most local level of the competition, the 2017 5th District Oratorical Speech Contest held at the American Legion in Oskaloosa.
Gipple has a prepared speech that is 8 to 10 minutes in length, with the topic being an amendment of the Constitution, emphasizing the obligation it creates for the citizen.
Gipple enjoys that approach to speaking about an amendment and how it would apply today. “Then you’re not just sitting there reading through the amendment like you would in government class.”
In a secondary speech, contestants must be prepared to speak about the 7th, 10th, 16th, and 17th amendments to the Constitution, in addition to their prepared speech.
The speech must be at least 3 minutes, but no longer than 5 minutes, with the purpose to test the presenters’ knowledge of the subject assigned to them.
Each contestant makes 2 different speeches during the competition.
Gipple moved on to Des Moines to compete at the state level, where he was selected to represent the State of Iowa at the national competition.
“I’m still kind of taking it in,” said Caleb of his advancement to the national level. “It has been insane. A lot of fun.”
“After the local contest, I knew I did not meet my expectations, so I went back and cleaned and polished it [the speech].”
After the district contest, Gipple knew that he needed to further polish and refine his speeches and delivery. “I didn’t really start back at square one; I really added a lot of beef to my speeches”, which included “a lot more research.”
Gipple has been using the resources available to him on the American Legion website, which include a collection of past speeches at the national contest. “I watched these videos and I was blown away. It’s such a tremendous resource because I can analyze their speech style and the content of their speeches.”
“The American Legion is just extremely generous,” said Gipple of the prizes offered to the top finishers. First place walks away with $18,000, second place takes home $16,000, while third is $14,000.
Gipple is a senior at North Mahaska High School, and he will be making his appearance at the national contest in Indianapolis on April 22nd and 23rd, which is the same weekend as prom for North Mahaska.
Gipple feels honored to be the candidate to represent the State of Iowa. “I intend to represent my school, my community, and the state to the very best of my ability, and I hope to not let anybody down.”
