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For the second straight year, Jay Swaney brought home the state championship for the Wyoming American Legion Oratorical Contest.
Swaney is 18 and a homeschooled senior. He is also taking …
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For the second straight year, Jay Swaney brought home the state championship for the Wyoming American Legion Oratorical Contest.
Swaney is 18 and a homeschooled senior. He is also taking concurrent classes at Northwest College.
Swaney first won at the local level, competing at American Legion Hughes-Pittinger Post 26. The post’s Lin Bashford said local students of high school age, both boys and girls, are invited to compete.
Students give a prepared speech of 8-10 minutes on the U.S. Constitution. The competitor is then given a constitutional amendment and five minutes to develop another 3-5 minute speech on that topic. Each competitor is given the same amendment, but they are not in the same place when developing and delivering their speeches.
The local winner then advances to the district level. This year, Bashford said, Powell hosted the district competition.
Swaney won that level unopposed as well and advanced to the state level. He won the state competition last year as well as this year’s, which was held March 9. Some of the items the speakers are judged on include presentation, demeanor and content of the speech.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, no national competition was held either in 2020 or for this year. The state winners all received a scholarship: $2,500 last year and $5,000 this year.
Russ Stafford, commander of the Legion post this year, said Swaney is a good competitor
because he practices a lot. Additionally, he is from a military family and has taken an interest in the U.S. Constitution as long as Stafford has known him.
Swaney himself gives the credit for his wins to someone else.
“I pray a lot. I wouldn’t be able to do any of this or compete at any level without a lot of people around me who know the Lord and encourage me,” he said.
Swaney also agreed with Stafford that his family has played a big role in his speech career.
“My parents encouraged me to read the Constitution and other documents. They encouraged me to read them from a very young age, so that helped me a lot,” he added.
This summer, Swaney plans to join the Air National Guard in Idaho. He will serve part-time while he finishes his associate’s degree at Northwest College and when he moves on to the University of Wyoming. There he plans to attend officers’ training school and gain his Air Force commission, where he hopes to fly attack aircraft.
“I want to support and defend the Constitution and that’s a good way to do it,” he said. His father is a veteran of the U.S. Army and Swaney credits his dad with helping him make the right career choices.
