The District 5930 high school Four Way Test competition was held on Saturday, May 2, 2019 at the Retro Veijo resort immediately south of Harlingen. This is a competition where high school students speak for between 5-7 minutes applying the Four Way Test to something meaningful in their lives.Students from 11 of the District’s 13 Areas competed. The students competing this year were:
Area | Student’s name | Student’s school and year in school |
2 | Isaiah Garcia | Victoria East High School, Junior |
3 | Alyssa Hinojosa | Aransas Pass High School, Junior |
5 | Katie Nguyen | Collegiate High School, Senior |
6 | Eric Massey | Freer High School, Senior |
7 | Mariah Mercado | H.M. King High School, Senior |
8 | Brian Pritchard | Marine Military Academy, Junior |
9 | Viviana Franco | Gladys Porter Early College High School, Senior |
10 | Karynna De Los Santos | Pharr San Juan Alamo Memorial High School, Senior |
11 | Raul Castillo | Valley View High School, Senior |
12 | Alina Moreno | United High School, Senior |
13 | Melissa Cortes | Preparatory for Early College High School, Senior |
Brian Pritchard won the $1500 first prize. Brian gave a very compelling speech about how he turned his life around in the seventh grade when he was attending school in Denver, and persuaded his parents to send him to the school that he located that he thought would serve him best, the school he is now attending, the Marine Military Academy. Isaiah Garcia received $1000 as the second place student. He courageously took on the topic of transforming from being a student who at times bullied others when he was younger to now helping his fellow students. The $750 third prize went to Melissa Cortes who very thoughtfully and passionately addressed the immigration issues facing our country. In addition to their scholarship winnings, each of these students received a glass trophy in recognition of their achievement.
All of the other Area champions received a $250 reward for that distinction, and all students received a plaque recognizing them as their Area champion. The students received their monetary award on the spot from District Treasurer Mike Pierce. All eleven students gave outstanding speeches. I was grateful to our five outstanding judges for taking on the very difficult task of judging these speeches (Past District Governors Maxie Houser, Lauro Solis, Betty Ramirez Lara and her husband Adam Lara, and our District Governor Elect Ellison Crider).
I am very grateful to the many people made my job easy in running this competition, especially District Governor Andy Hagan, Marlon Martinez, Kathy Preddy, Nancy Ross, and Dana Sisk.
Next year’s competition will be in Corpus Christi on Saturday, May 2, 2020. If you have not attended one of these competitions in the past I highly encourage you to do so. This is my fifth year serving as the coordinator of the District Four Way Test competition. I always leave this competition encouraged knowing that the future is in the very capable hands of outstanding young leaders like these Area champions. You will hear thoughtful and often moving speeches that it takes a lot of courage for the students to present before, what is to them, a group of strangers. Few of us would be so brave! I hope to see you on May 2 next year.
Tim Dowling
District 5930 Four Way Test coordinator