Project Soapbox is a speech competition giving students an opportunity to speak their minds on important topics. This project involves students “getting up on their soapbox”, meaning speaking to a crowd,  and picking a topic to speak about. This topic could be anything they are passionate about and believe should be addressed. 

   LCN’s very own leadership class participated in this competition. Students chose a broad variety of topics. Some chose topics more relevant to everyone, while others chose more personal topics. Each student presented their speech to the class while everyone listened. Once everyone had shared, each person voted for their top three speeches they heard. The top five students with the most votes advance to the preliminary round which will be held on Saturday, March 25th at Roseville High School. 

   The preliminary round will consist of each student being put into breakout rooms. There will be judges in each room listening to the student’s speeches. Once everyone has gone, the judges will select the student with the best speech in each room. These students will get the chance to advance further into the competition. 

   These speeches are each unique in their own way. One of the most important aspects to each speech is the call to action. This is what the speaker is asking their audience to do and how their issue is going to be addressed. These speeches are meant to give students a voice and it is a chance for them to be heard, even if they are kids. It gives them the opportunity to shed light on topics that may be overlooked. 

   Overall, Project Soapbox lets students publicly voice their opinion on world issues. Students’ opinions are often overlooked and silenced, when there are so many issues that they care about and could be addressed. Project Soapbox shows students that their opinions matter and that they will be heard.