Whitehall Area Rotary Club held its third annual Four-Way Test speech contest March 11 at Fellowship Community, Whitehall.

The five Whitehall High School students who competed for the $250 scholarship are enrolled in a special speech class offered as a dual-enrollment through Lehigh Carbon Community College. The class is designed to teach students how to effectively research, write and present speeches to a live audience, so they were a perfect fit for the Rotary Club’s contest.

Their teacher, Michelle Abbadessa, said she holds a preliminary contest among her entire class to determine the top five students who will enter the contest.

Per the contest rules, the students chose their own speech topics and approached them through the Rotary’s Four-Way Test of things we say, think and do - “Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?”

Jeleah McKenzie described the ways in which excessive schoolwork can inflict physical and mental stress on students, which is not conducive to their education or well-being.

Maria Parrales spoke about the rampant materialism among young people who feel the need to upgrade and always buy the next best thing.

Kate Bonshak used the startling opening line, “You’re all liars,” to humorously illustrate how commonly people lie throughout their lives and how a lack of awareness can turn lying into a harmful habit.

Amanda Mortimer called out America’s tendency to play the blame game and persuaded listeners to stop blaming and take accountability for their own actions.

And finally, Zachary Ringenberger, the only 11th-grader among the group of seniors, won over the judges with his speech advocating for equal rights and treatment for people in the LGBT community. He described the unique anxiety still felt by gay men and women when they decide to come out to those they love.

The contest was meant to continue to the district level, where Ringenberger would compete against winning students from other schools in the Lehigh Valley. Unfortunately, district contests, and the regional contests to follow, have all been canceled due to concerns about the coronavirus.

Measuring a student’s ability to speak before a live audience is a crucial aspect of the contest, and their interactions with the crowd make up a fair portion of the scoring system. Without being able to gather an audience, the contests would not be possible.