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"Simply
being pro-life doesn't save babies. Acting pro-life does!" This admonition was given by Melissa Temple at
Tennessee Right to Life's 12th annual Pro-Life Oratory Contest on Saturday,
April 30, at Aquinas College in Nashville. Local chapters helped Tennessee to develop the
nation's largest pro-life speech contest with over 115 public, private, and home-schooled students in
grades 9-12 participating in 24 county contests statewide. Each
participant was required to research, write, and present an original five
to seven minute pro-life speech, using factual and current information on
abortion, infanticide, embryonic stem cell research, or euthanasia.
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Pictured left to right: Tori
Johnstone (4th Place), Kayla Huddleston (3rd Place),
Lydia Smith (2nd Place) and Melissa Temple (1st Place).
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Melissa
Temple, a sophomore representing
Northeast TN Right to Life, placed first in the contest and received a
$500.00 award from Tennessee Right to Life (TRL) and a $2,500 scholarship
from Aquinas College.
Due to an age requirement at the national level, second place winner
Lydia Smith from Blount County
will represent Tennessee in the National Right to Life Oratory Contest
in Jacksonville, FL on June
26. Lydia received $250 in prize money from TRL and a
$1,500 scholarship from Aquinas. Kayla Huddleston from Wilson County
received a $100 prize for third place and Tori Johnstone from Robertson County
received a $50 prize as the fourth place winner (both received scholarships
from Aquinas).
Upon
welcoming the students, Sister Mary Peter, Operating President of Aquinas College said,
"We are so excited to host this competition each year. It gives me
hope to see that there is still good left in our youth...and the
future of the pro-life movement looks bright!" Aquinas College
hosted the event for the eighth consecutive year and provided $5,000 in
scholarships for the finalists.
"I have judged this competition for the
past ten years," stated Stormy Mitchell, President of The Mitchell
Group, a Christian Speakers and Artist Booking Agency. "I look forward
to being involved each year because the students are very inspiring. The
students' quality level gets better each year, which makes it more and more
difficult to rank so many well written and presented speeches. We
congratulate the winners and look forward to next year's competition."
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2011Tennessee Right to Life State High School Oratory Contest Participants
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Post Office Box
110765 ♦ Nashville, Tennessee 37222-0765 ♦ 615.298.LIFE
Toll Free: 1-877-CHOOSE LIFE
♦ info@tnrtl.org ♦ www.tnrtl.org
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