Thursday, October 1, 2026
Can you remember what you ate for dinner every night this week? Can you always recall where you parked your car outside of the mall? Do you know where you put your car keys when you walked in the door?
If you’re shaking your head no to any of these questions then you can surely appreciate all of the hard work that students from Holy Name of Mary School put into the annual Oratorical Contest.
Eight students memorized and then delivered famous speeches from the past in front of their classmates, teachers, parents and a panel of judges at the contest held on May 16. The original speakers ranged from presidents to civil rights leaders to a modern day saint and a football coach.
Seventh grader Victoria Lucas took first place for the second consecutive year after nailing a speech that was originally given by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt after Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941.
“When I was up there I felt like everybody was there that day,” Lucas said. “I felt like I was FDR and I was saying, ‘hey, this happened, let me show you what happened and let me help you and get through this.’”
Lucas said it took her two and a half weeks to memorize the speech and she didn’t have anybody help her practice. “I felt if you’re going to be on stage by yourself you might as well do it by yourself,” she said. “I had a lot of encouragement from my mom and dad and I felt really good.”
The three judges selected Lucas as the top speaker based on criteria including the contestant’s ability to interpret the speech, ability to capture and hold the attention of the audience and use of mechanics that included emphasis, pronunciation and enunciation.
Students in grades 5-8 were eligible for the contest. Each student who registered had to memorize a three-to-six minute speech while conveying the meaning of the speech they were giving.
Fifth graders Natalia Kurek and Natalia Kulis came in second and third place, respectively. Kurek recited Shirley Chisholm’s Equal Rights for Women speech and said it took her two weeks to memorize. Kurek said her dad gave her the idea of using Chisholm’s speech and her mom helped her practice. “I was scared but then I found out it was really fun,” she said of her experience.
Kulis narrated Mother Teresa’s Nobel Lecture Speech and said she worked on memorizing it for two months. During her months of practice, Kulis rehearsed speaking louder and making eye contact with the audience. “It was pretty fun,” she said of her speech. “It was a little nerve-racking, but it was a really exciting moment.”
Eileen McEnaney, the contest’s moderator, and the three judges, presented each of the contestants with certificates to commemorate their hard work and participation. As she addressed the contestants, McEnaney said it took the judges a while to choose a winner because everyone did so well.
When McEnaney collected the judges’ scorecards at the end of the competition she said that one of the judges told her, “I don’t know why I’m filling this out, I couldn’t get up there and do that.” McEnaney then told the contestants, “you know what, the rest of us who are sitting here feel the same way. We thank you for doing what the rest of us could not do.”
