Rocky River High School senior Natalie El Dabh won first place in the Rotary Club’s annual Four-Way Test Speech Contest for Rotary International District 6630 (northeast Ohio) on April 5, 2014. Natalie qualified for the district contest by placing first in the Rotary Club of Lakewood and Rocky River’s speech contest on March 31. Her topic addressed whether the emphasis on college admission keeps kids focused on resume-builders rather than moral development.
Natalie has been a member of the Rocky River High School Forensics team for the last 3 years and is co-captain of this year’s team. She has been a state qualifier each year in Dramatic Interpretation, in which a student performs a 10-minute piece, from any published work, which illuminates a character’s personality.
The contest, which is for high school age students, features speeches centered around the Rotary Club’s Four-Way Test, principles by which Rotarians worldwide live. The Four-Way Test asks the questions: “Is it the truth?”; “Is it fair to all concerned?”; “Will it build goodwill and better friendships?”; and “Will it be beneficial to all concerned?”. Contestants can select any topic; however, the topic must be subjected to the Four-Way Test. Natalie was honored by the Rotary Club of Lakewood and Rocky River at an awards ceremony at Beck Center for the Arts on April 7. She was also honored following the district competition at Harmon Middle School in Aurora. Natalie will be performing her speech at the Rotary District Conference at Quail Hollow Resort in Painesville on April 26.