Braden Heizer of Fairfield High School was the winner Tuesday of the annual Hillsboro Rotary 4-Way Speech Contest, and will be the club’s representative at the district competition held Sunday, April 2, at Wright State University.
Heizer, who was awarded $300, spoke on students making better decisions, and how a hasty decision can change a life. The runners-up were Bryanna Buerkle of Hillsboro High School, who spoke on the subject of bullying, and Rachael Tracy of Hillsboro Christian Academy, speaking on the topic of illegal immigrants.
Presentations were required to be on the Rotary themes of leadership, service and the Rotary Four-Way Test: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned? Judges for Tuesday’s contest were Jennifer West, Paulette Donley and Karie Emery. Time keeper was Doug Ernst.
Heizer won his competition at Fairfield, being awarded $200, with $50 going to second place finisher Ailean Duffie.
Buerkle also won $200 for winning the Hillsboro High School competition, with Caitlin Ahrmann awarded $50 for her second place finish at HHS.
William Cassner was actually the winner at the Hillsboro Christian Academy competition, winning $200, but he was unable to attend Tuesday’s event, so Tracy represented the academy on Tuesday. She was awarded $50 for her runner-up finish at the academy, and Hannah McIntyre also won $50 as a runner-up at HCA.
The local competition was organized by Rotarian Amatha Farrens, who thanked the students and their families for their participation. She thanked Rotarian Karen Faust, who she said was “a huge part in this as well.”
The Rotarian judges who helped at the schools were Karen Faust, Ted Rosenmayer, Debbie Rhude, Jenny Hilterbran, Darrell Wilson, Dan Pearce and Kellie Kiser.
