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PURPOSE and TIPS for
ADVISORS for a
SUCCESSFUL
Saint John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival
Purpose
The purpose
of the Saint John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival is to provide teenagers an
opportunity to learn, write, and speak about their Orthodox Faith, Church
and Heritage. This strengthens their understanding and appreciation of their
identity as Greek Orthodox Christians, and cultivates spiritual growth and
maturity. The overall Oratorical program is called an Oratorical Festival
rather than a contest to minimize the competitive spirit and emphasize a
joyful learning experience. Since 1983 the Oratorical Festival has
provided thousands of teenagers the opportunity to discover the fullness of
the Orthodox Faith!
"Grow in
the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ"
(2 Peter 3:18)
Structure and Promotion
In the Fall, each Metropolis Hierarch selects their
Metropolis and District Chairmen along with the dates and location of the
Metropolis Festival so that the districts and parishes have ample time to
plan and prepare for their festivals. To ensure that the Oratorical Festival
is efficiently and effectively run, the Department of Religious Education (DRE)
Festival Co-Chairmen contact each Metropolis requesting the names of the
Metropolis and District Chairmen. Once received, the DRE communicates
with each Metropolis Chairperson. It is then the responsibility
of the Metropolis Chairperson to contact each District Chairperson
who should then contact each Parish Chairperson within the District
to disseminate Oratorical information and offer guidance. If a Parish has
not received the Oratorical Festival information, they should call the
Department of Religious Education directly at (800) 566-1088.
The
Department of Religious Education provides the list of topics, topic tips
and bibliography via the Department website at:
www.religioused.goarch.org
by early September. The complete list is also available in The ARC
(The Annual Resource Companion), an educational resource containing relevant
articles and essays on an annual theme, published by the Department of
Religious Education each summer. The Oratorical Festival Kit (containing
the Festival manual, topics, tips, bibliography, judges’ instructions,
program cover with sample program and elementary division brochure) is
available from the DRE upon request. Other resource materials are also
available from the DRE such as Oratorical Festival certificates, Saint John
Chrysostom icons, medallions and Archdiocesan Festival videos.
The Parish
Festival is organized by an Oratorical Chairperson and Committee
appointed by the Parish Priest. A Parish Oratorical Festival takes place
between January and March. Each Parish sends its finalists to a
District Festival.
The District
Festivals are composed of parishes in specified areas of a Metropolis.
District Festivals take place between March and April and the
finalists advance to the Metropolis Festival. Each District Chairperson is
appointed by the Metropolis Hierarch.
The
Metropolis Festival takes place between April and May and
includes the finalists from each District. The first place Junior and
Senior Speakers of each Metropolis advance to the Archdiocesan Festival. The
Metropolis Chairperson is appointed by the Metropolis Hierarch.
The
Archdiocesan Festival takes place in early June. This year the 2004
Oratorical Festival Finals will be hosted by the Metropolis of Detroit and
will take place at the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George in Southgate,
Michigan on the weekend of June 4-6, 2004.
All national
finalists will receive a college scholarship or a US Savings Bond as
follows: The top three speakers in each division receive a college
scholarship in the amount of $2000, $1500, and $1000 respectively, and the
remaining finalists receive a $500 US Savings Bond. These awards are made
possible by many generous donations to the Saint John Chrysostom Oratorical
Festival Scholarship Foundation.
We thank you
for participating in the Saint John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival and for
helping make it one of the most successful programs of the Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese!
Encourage
participation at a young age:
Encourage the children to be
involved in Oratorical at a younger age, while they are in grades 4 to 6 or
even younger. They can present simple 30-second to one and a half minute
speeches on any church-related topic, without judging or competition. (See
the enclosed information on the Elementary Division.) Don’t wait until they
are teenagers to ask them to participate. Those who participate each year
enjoy Oratorical and benefit greatly from the experience.
Offer awards:
Offer awards and incentives to
those who participate. The rewards can include public recognition, cash
prizes (such as $100 each to the two finalists), trophies or mementos,
gifts, and certificates. (Pre-printed Oratorical certificates are available
from the Department of Religious Education, 1-800-566-1088.) An
organization or family in your parish can sponsor the awards.
Use Church School
classes:
Talking about ideas for
speeches will help the students feel more at ease about participating.
Discuss the Oratorical topics and answer the questions during Church School
classes. Seek the assistance of Sunday School teachers in recruiting
participants.
Involve “Sights &
Sounds”:
Involve more children in your
Oratorical Festival by including presentations of art and music by
children. Some parishes call this “Sights & Sounds”. Any child who cannot
or would rather not speak can present their artistic work or a play a
musical instrument.
Use mentors/trainers
& informal workshops:
Get resource people – teachers,
lawyers, media persons - and previous Oratorical speakers to give personal
assistance to the children in the preparation and presentation of their
speeches. Open the church’s or the priest’s library for use in research and
preparation. Hold informal preparation workshops some evenings to help the
children research and develop their presentations. To give examples of good
presentations, videos are available of previous Oratorical Festivals.
Get qualified judges:
It is very important to recruit a panel of qualified
judges for the Oratorical Festival. Choose at least three competent,
neutral, and objective judges. It is ideal if all judges can be
Orthodox Christians, but often this is not feasible. You can select judges
from local high school and college faculty members in the Speech or English
disciplines, the local chapter of “Toastmasters International”, lawyers or
others with a debating or public speech background.
To avoid conflicts
of interest, judges should not be acquainted or familiar with any of the
student speakers.
Emphasize participation more than
competition:
Encouraging participation in the Oratorical Festival
is more important than emphasizing competition. For the younger ages, there
is no competition or judging. For 7-12th graders the judging and
competition is present only to encourage excellence. All children who make
a good effort gain from the experience. Teenagers who participate regularly
in Oratorical Festivals are excited about the opportunity to grow and mature
through the experience. Their participation helps them to learn and
appreciate more about their identity as Greek Orthodox Christians.
Order the Oratorical Festival Manual &
Kit:
To learn more about organizing
your Oratorical Festival, you can contact the Department of Religious
Education at 1-800-566-1088 to order the free Oratorical Festival Manual &
Kit.
Please also
visit:
http://www.goarch.org/en/archdiocese/departments/religioused/oratorical/
2005 Oratorical Festival |2004 Oratorical Festival |
2003 Oratorical Festival
Oratorical Festival Speaker
Tips |
Oratorical Festival
Advisor
Tips
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