LIVE OAK HIGH SCHOOL junior Abe Butte has won the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill’s 2007 Youth Speech Contest. His five-minute speech on the theme ‘Lead the Way’ was delivered in competition before the club on Feb. 28.
Abe is the son of Maria Elena Butte of Morgan Hill. His advisor at Live Oak is Donna Cowan.
Abe won the $150 prize and will advance to the Rotary’s area speech contest on March 14, where he will compete against the winners of competitions sponsored by Rotary clubs in Gilroy, San Juan Bautista and Hollister. That winner will advance to a regional competition with a $1,500 prize to be held in Monterey in April.
Abe is currently South Coast Regional Vice President of the National FFA Organization, an agricultural education program. He wants to attend a four-year university and is thinking about going into law.
Second place honors in the competition went to Acacia Brown-Korbel, a senior at Live Oak High School, and third place to Justin Haim, a junior at Sobrato High School.
The purpose of the Youth Speech Contest is to help young people know the importance of speaking effectively before a group; to expand public knowledge – especially among young people – of what Rotary is and does throughout the world; and to allow high school students the opportunity to compete for prize money that is hoped will be used to further the student’s education.
