High school students across the region are invited to participate in Speak-Off, the Inland Empire Resource Conservation District's annual speech competition. This year's competition is broken out into local, regional, and state contests, which collectively offer students the chance to win up to $760 and a paid internship for summer 2024. Prizes are awarded sequentially: first place at the local level wins $250, followed by $200 and $300 at the regional and state levels. All students who enter the IERCD's local contest will receive a $10 gift card and certificate of participation.
Speak-Off is an annual competition among Resource Conservation Districts throughout the state, designed to help California high school students learn about natural resource issues in their area and build public speaking skills and confidence. While past Speak-Off contests have been facilitated in person, this year’s process is a combination of video creation and in-person speech delivery, all responding to the prompt: "California climate is changing, and groundwater recharge will be important to ensure water for future generations. Are there other natural resource benefits to groundwater recharge projects and how can RCDs help? What local or regional examples can you point to and how have these examples helped your community?"
At the local level, the IERCD is inviting students living within their service area to submit a 3-5 minute recorded video addressing this year’s prompt. This must be submitted by 5 p.m. on October 6th. A panel of conservation professionals will judge the entries and advance the top 3 contestants to an in-person competition at IERCD headquarters on Thursday, October 19th, where first, second, and third places will be officially determined and the associated prizes distributed. The winning speaker will continue to the regional contest, which will be held virtually on October 30th and offers an additional $200 to the top-placing student. This winner will then advance to the in-person state contest held December 14th at the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts' Annual Conference in Sacramento. This student and their chaperone will have all travel expenses covered by IERCD. The top three students placing in the state contest will receive cash prizes.
If you know a talented teen who is also an aspiring environmentalist, please encourage them to apply! This is a great opportunity for students to learn more about the importance of groundwater recharge and how to help keep California's water resources healthy and clean in the future, while also providing impactful solutions for Resource Conservation Districts to implement. Learn more and submit videos at www.iercd.org/speak-off