Taft student wins national speech contest

For the second time in three years, a Cedar Rapids Community School District student has won the national Modern Woodmen of America Speech Contest. Cora Lassen was named the national champion in July. Lassen, 12, will be an 8th grader at Taft Middle School.

The 2010 contest theme was "If I were president.” Lassen focused her speech on the topic of world poverty. She placed first in the Taft school competition last spring and went on to earn second place in the District competition. The top three students from that competition all advanced to the regional contest in Rock Island, Illinois, held in May. Winning there, Lassen shared her speech at the national judging. At the national level, all speeches were presented on video tape.

“I was stunned at the results,” Lassen said. “Third place would have been almost believable, and second would have been too much to hope for. I never dreamed I would win!”

As national champion, Lassen received a $2,000 scholarship. She will also be recognized for her accomplishment during a back-to-school assembly at Taft.

The Modern Woodmen speech contest, begun in 1948, is designed to help middle school students develop research and speaking skills while also gaining self esteem. Nationwide, more than 100,000 students participate annually. All District middle schools participate. Amira Nash, then an 8th grader at McKinley Middle School, won the national speech contest in 2008.