The Holliston Lions Club is encouraging students who are interested to participate in the 2020 – 2021 Lions Youth Speech Contest. This years’ topic for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will be “Is winning everything?“

The speech contest is a project of Massachusetts Lions Clubs and the Holliston Lions are proud to continue to provide an opportunity for students to express themselves through not only writing an essay, but also fine-tuning their public speaking skills.

Speech Contest Rules

There are some rules which students and parents should review before a student decides to participate in the contest. Here are the basics:

General Rules: The contest is open to all students in grades 9, 10, 11 and 12 Students may reside within or attend school located within MD33 (all of Massachusetts), and includes foreign exchange, charter school, private school, home schooled, or independent study students. Students must also be sponsored by a Lions Club or by a Leos Club within the Commonwealth.

PRIZES AND AWARDS There are prizes and/or awards for each contestant at every level of competition. The prizes at the State Competition are $1,500 to the winner and $500 to each runner up. Prizes at other level of competition are at the discretion of the Clubs or District Governor

Students who are interested in learning more about the Speech Contest can review the online materials located on the MA Lions Youth Speech Contest website or simply download this material:

Student Handbook

Student Release Form

Student Profile

There are several levels of competition which begin at the Club level. Students who are prepared for the competition are invited to participate at this level and one person who wins that competition goes forward to represent the sponsoring Lions or Leo Club in a Zone level contest. The Zone level has up to six Lions or Leo Clubs participating.

The winner from the Zone level contest then moves forward to the Region evel contest. The maximum number of students participating at this level is 12. The winner from the Zone level contest will then move forward to the District level.

At the District level, there are a maximum of five participants. From these five only one person will advance to the State level where they will deliver their speech and one person will be declared the state level winner.

At each level of the competition, students must follow the guidelines for how much they can depend on their written work. At the first level, students may refer to their full manuscript. Zone and Region level participants are allowed three 3” x 5” index cards, both sides. Once a student advances to the District and State level competition, they may only have one 3” x 5” index card, both sides for reference. Students should also be aware their manuscript may be amended between each competition up to, and including, the District final competition. At that time, the manuscript will be ‘frozen’ for the State competition.

Should you have any questions pertaining to the Lions Youth Speech Contest please contact the Holliston Lions Club via email at president@hollistonmalions.org. Watch this space for additional information on how to register as a participant.