Don’t look for any “cancel culture” at Saints Peter and Paul High School in Easton, Maryland.
Our founding fathers’ vision and accomplishments have been questioned since our founding, and the U.S. Constitution — one of their magnificent legacies — has sometimes been disparaged and disregarded altogether.
But not at Saints Peter and Paul High School, led by principal Scott Wilson. The school has teamed up with the Knights of Columbus to encourage and reward student speeches honoring our founding fathers and the U.S. Constitution (and student essays honoring our American military and history and our Christian heritage and values).
Three Saints Peter and Paul High School students — Kathryn Murphy, Will Coughlan and Conner Bryan — have earned wins, and scholarships, in both the Knights of Columbus and the American Legion Oratorical Contests. Two of the student-orators have advanced to the American Legion’s state finals on March 23.
The Regina Coeli Council of the Knights of Columbus conducted the oratorical contest on Jan. 29 in the school’s auditorium, and after judging, subsequently announced – and distributed scholarships to – the winners at a school assembly in the Regina Coeli Council’s first-ever oratorical contest on the U.S. Constitution at Saints Peter and Paul High School.
The three winners covered topics which included quotes from Madison, Jefferson and Lincoln; history lessons on the Magna Carta, King George and Machiavelli, and the intersection of as many as four articles of the constitution
Champion Kathryn Murphy, a senior headed to University of Pennsylvania, was first on all three judges’ scorecards for her pro-life speech on how and whether the articles of the U.S. Constitution do – or do not – create a right to abortion. The constitution conveys no such right, she concluded. As champion, Murphy received a $1,500 scholarship from the Regina Coeli Council.
The oratorical contest at Saints Peter and Paul High School is modeled after – and prefatory to – the American Legion’s oratorical contest on the U.S. Constitution which consists of an eight-to-ten-minute speech followed by a second round of a shorter oration on one of four constitutional articles or amendments chosen at random by the contest organizers.
Two days after her Knights of Columbus triumph at SSPP High School, on Feb. 1 Murphy went on to win the American Legion Easton Post’s contest, earning a $300 award, and subsequently won the American Legion district championship in Centreville, earning an additional $500 (totaling $2,300).
Murphy goes on to the American Legion Maryland state finals in Towson on March 23, with the winner going on to the American Legion national finals at Hillsdale College in Michigan, an all-expenses-paid trip for the state winners and their parents with the opportunity to win the $25,000 first prize.
Coughlan, the second-place finisher in the Knights of Columbus Oratorical Contest, earned a $500 award. He finished second to Murphy three times – at SSPP and subsequently at the American Legion post and district levels, earning an aggregate $1,300.
Bryan, the third-place finisher at SSPP, earned a $200 award. Since he lives in Dorchester County, he competed in American Legion post and district contests in Cambridge and Salisbury, winning both and totaling $1,200 in awards and advancing to the state finals in Towson on March 23.
Murphy and Bryan are two of only five student-orators competing at the American Legion’s Maryland state finals.
Next on the agenda for the Regina Coeli Council of the Knights of Columbus at Saints Peter and Paul High School are this spring’s third annual essay contests on faith/word of God for ninth graders, and patriotism/American greatness for tenth graders — and a similar theme to be determined for the newly added essay contest for eleventh graders.
The primary goals of the partnership between the Knights of Columbus and Saints Peter and Paul High School are to improve the communication skills of our students – both written and oral, and to enhance and invigorate our students’ faith and patriotism. Also, to engender a deeper understanding of – and greater appreciation for – our U.S. Constitution and its framers; and positively further differentiate Saints Peter and Paul High School from all other high schools on the Eastern Shore.
Those interested in financially supporting the essay and oratorical contests (naming rights are available for each of the contests for those who wish to honor a family member, or a religious, military or political hero) or attending the June 5 awards ceremony/dinner in Easton (at which the winning essayists will read their essays, among other aspects of the religious and patriotic program), please contact Mark de Bernardo at markanthony5359@gmail.com.
