Emma Raines with her parents, Marine and Philip Raines, after winning the East Tennessee Division of the American Legion High School Oratory Contest, on Saturday.
Emma Raines with her parents, Marine and Philip Raines, after winning the East Tennessee Division of the American Legion High School Oratory Contest, on Saturday.
Emma Raines, a senior at Providence Academy, Johnson City, won the East Tennessee Division of the American Legion High School Oratory Contest on Saturday.
She is sponsored by American Legion Kings Mountain Post 24, Johnson City, and is the winner of the the local post contest and the 1st District contest that qualified her for the division event.
Judges said the scoring was close, with Raines coming out ahead of two competitors: Love Patel of Athens and Jacob Vineyard of Sevierville. Saturday’s regional level event was held in Seymour and hosted by the local American Legion Post.
Raines’ original oratory focused on one of the more important duties as American citizens, which is exercising their Constitutional right to vote.
She pointed out that the August 2022 elections saw fewer than 20% of eligible voters in Tennessee turn out to vote.
Raines next step on her way to the national finals is this weekend in Nashville where the Department of Tennessee competition will be held.
Robert Houk has served as a journalist and photographer at the Press since 1987. He is a recipient of the Associated Press Managing Editors Malcom Law Award for investigative reporting.
