Cook County Judge Directs Oratory Competition in Kenwood

PUSH Excel, the educational arm of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition founded by Rev. Jessie Jackson Sr., recently held their Spring Oratorical Competition at 930 E. 50th St., the Rainbow PUSH Coalition’s national headquarters, to showcase students who are practicing public speaking as part of their Oratorical program. Photo: Thomas McIntosh/PUSH Excel
PUSH Excel, the educational arm of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition founded by Rev. Jessie Jackson Sr., recently held their Spring Oratorical Competition at 930 E. 50th St., the Rainbow PUSH Coalition’s national headquarters, to showcase students who are practicing public speaking as part of their Oratorical program. Photo: Thomas McIntosh/PUSH Excel

Cook County Judge Directs Oratory Competition in Kenwood

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

Cook County Circuit Court Judge Stanley L. Hill frequently steps away from his bench to direct the Oratorical program for PUSH Excel, the educational arm of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition founded by Rev. Jessie Jackson Sr. The Oratorical Society recently held their Spring Oratorical Competition at 930 E. 50th St., the Rainbow PUSH Coalition’s national headquarters.

The competition accepts students as young as Pre-K and recently added a level five age group to include adult participants. The contestants are divided by grade level and first, second, and third place awards were given within each grouping. Level one is for pre-k to third grade, level two includes fourth through sixth grades, level three is seventh and eighth grades, level four is for ninth through 12th, and level five is for college students and lifelong learners.

“Our youngest contestant in all of the contests that I’ve been involved with was four and our oldest contestant was 97,” said Hill.

For the last seven years, Hill has been involved with PUSH Excel and their Oratorical program. He believes in the power of oratorical competitions partly because of is own experience as a child participating in oratory competitions through his church.

“I think I was in my first oratory competition when I was four. We would have competitions where we would compete with other churches and the winner would go to the regional competition,” said Hill. “I remember being twelve and leaving Chicago and going down to Kansas City to participate in a national oratory competition and I believe that has a lot to with who I am today because of that early exposure that I got from people who spent time with me and encouraged me by showing me the importance of being able to speak confidently in any setting and situation.”

Students in the PUSH Excel oratorical competition were given a very long list of speeches to choose from to memorize and present in front of the judges. They were all scored on the same guidelines which included appearance, attire, and personality, delivery and presentation, and their overall effectiveness for a total of 100 points.

“The ability to take a speech, to study it, memorize it, and then recite it is a great way to build positive self-esteem which is so important. With positive self-esteem you’re able to go into life with an inspiring, succeed -against-the-odds message,” said Hill.

The first place winner in each age group received $100, second place received $75, and third place received $50, and students who received an honorable mention were awarded a $10 prize. Each student received a medal based on their placement in the competition.

Judge Hill directs oratory lessons every Saturday morning at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters and will be presenting the next oratory competition at the annual Rainbow PUSH Convention in June.

For more information about the oratory program and to learn about upcoming competitions, visit pushexcel.org.

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