Adult and Community Learning Services (ACLS)

Student Government Day 2020: Speech Competition to Select Student Governor

The winner of a speech competition will determine the student governor for Student Government Day (SGD) on April 3, 2020. The student governor will deliver the speech to the Joint Convention of the Senate and House during SGD. Only one student will be selected. The speech competition is open to student designees only; submissions from alternates will not be accepted.

To be eligible for selection as student governor, the designee must submit a written speech to studgovday@doe.mass.edu by 3:00 pm on Friday, February 28, 2020.

Topic: The 2018 History and Social Science Curriculum Framework emphasizes a renewed mission for civic education such that students are prepared with the knowledge and skills to become thoughtful and active participants in a democratic society and a complex world. The Framework also states that the "future of democracy depends on our students' development of knowledge, skills, and dispositions that will enable them to embrace democracy's potential, while recognizing its challenges and inherent dilemmas." In a speech to your peers, discuss the challenges and dilemmas facing our democracy today, and how youth can embrace democracy's potential to make an impact on these challenges.

Criteria: The speech must be non-partisan and take no more than 3 minutes to deliver. Submissions will be evaluated based on originality, organization of ideas, overall understanding of the topic, and presentation skills. All submissions must be typed double spaced, dated, and include the student's name, the name and email address of the student's advisor, and the name of the school. A video clip of the student performing their speech must be attached with the written submission.

Timeline: Speeches and video clips must be submitted to studgovday@doe.mass.edu Friday, February 28, 2020 by 3:00 p.m. The selected student's advisor will be notified by email by March 15, 2020.