Speech Trek
date announced for
3 February 2024
Local high school students are invited to compete in Speech Trek, a speech competition sponsored by the American Association of University Women of California. All contestants will create a 5-6 minute speeches on the following public policy topic:
How can we ensure a robust public school curriculum that is accessible to all and teaches historically accurate information?
Registration deadline is January 20, 2024*
Contest will be held in-person at the Rancho Peñasquitos Public Library.
LOCAL PRIZES
First Place – $750.0000
Second Place – $500.00
Third Place – $250.00
Winner of the local contest participates in state semi-finals. Top three state semi-finalists compete for more cash prizes.
*Please note: The competition will limited to the first 10 applicants.
Download the Speech Trek 2024 Flyer here:
Speech Trek 24 Flyer with Note _10.29.2023
Speeches from previous years can be viewed on YouTube by searching “Speech Trek” followed by the year (ie Speech Trek 2021, or Speech Trek 2019)
AAUW California
2023 Speech Trek Contest
Nine students from local high schools including Poway High, Mt Carmel High School, and Westview competed in our 2023 branch competition. They spoke on the topic, How can communities, organizations and citizens of all ages help protect and expand voting rights?
First Place went to Cecelia Choy from Mark Keppel High School and tied for second place were Khushi Patel from Rancho Bernardo High School and Yuvraj Anand from Francis Parker School. Cecelia will move onto the AAUW California state semi-finals to compete for the state finals.
Contestants and judges for Speech Trek 2023
Congratulations to our winners of Speech Trek 2023!
AAUW California
2022 Speech Trek Contest
Congratulations to our Poway-Penasquitos Branch Speech Trek winner, Kristine Sy, for her 1st place win in the California State competition on Saturday, April 30th!! The contestants spoke on the topic: Has the US lived up to its pledge of liberty and justice for all? Would requiring the study of diversity, equity, and inclusion in a high school setting help ensure liberty and justice for all?
Karen McGurk, Kristine Sy, Gloria Ing and Marie Dye
We were fortunate to have Kristine and two guests attend the branch’s General meeting on Saturday May 14th. In addition, we had the pleasure of meeting her coach, Gloria Ing, who mentored two previous branch winners, Dominique Ruedaflores and jay Wang. Gloria shared an update on the previous winners and thanked the branch for our support of the youth in our community.
Past Poway Penasquitos Branch
SPEECH TREK Winners
Our 2021 branch finalist, Vidhi Kulkarni from Del Norte High School, spoke on the topic, “Has social media helped or hindered the breaking down of barriers for women and girls?“. Her fellow participants were Jay Wang from Mark Kepler High School, Olivia Toledo from Mira Mesa High School, and Nirja Trivedi from Westview High School.
Vidhi Kulkami, 1st place branch winner of 2021 Speech Trek
Our 2nd Annual Speech Trek finalist, Jay Wang, spoke on the topic “ Are men and women truly equal today, or are the Suffragettes of 1920 still suffering in 2020?” Second place went to Shiraz Rezaei, and third place to Skandhaa Subramaniam.
Our three Speech Trek winners with the judges and our branch President
Congratulations to all the participants!
Jay’s speech can be viewed on YouTube at https://youtu.be/04EFdfinNy0
Speech Trek 2019 Winners
Our 1st Annual Speech Trek 2019 finalist, Dominique Ruedaflores, spoke on the topic, “How Can We Eliminate Violence Aimed at Our Schools?”
She went on to compete at the State level and won, which was another $1500 in prize money.
We are so proud of her accomplishment!
Her speech is available on YouTube at https://youtu.be/W8gJp0EMfQM.
| Updated 11 Feb 2021 |