On Tuesday Feb. 15, three students traveled to the Blair County Convention Center to compete in the Rotary International’s Four-Way Test. 

The Four-way Test is an ethical guide for Rotarians to use for personal and professional relationships. It measures what is thought, said or done. 

“The main goal was to represent AAHS by presenting an ethical topic to local Rotarians,” adviser Heather Tippett-Wertz said. “Being able to speak publicly is a skill that the majority of people fear, so volunteering to participate in such a contest is an excellent way to showcase that skill and practice for future public speaking opportunities.” 

Students in their freshman, sophomore, junior and senior years in high school could enter this contest. Other than being in the correct grade level, the only requirement was to have prior experience speaking to groups of people. 

“I asked former students who excelled in my introduction to public speaking classes,” Tippett-Wertz said. 

Tippett-Wertz asked senior Abby Smearman, senior Danielle Mueller and sophomore Ava Rokosky to submit an outline to her prior to the event. She coached these students virtually due to the students no longer being in her class. 

“Each of the speakers practiced with me at least once prior to the context.  Since all of them have taken introduction to public speaking, they have experience with effective verbal and nonverbal communication.  Each speaker was given a scoring sheet ahead of time, so that they were aware of how the judges at the contest would assess them,” Tippett-Wertz said.

Smearman had participated in this test her sophomore year. She enjoyed her experience and was excited to participate in this again. 

“I had a luncheon with members of our local rotary club and gave a speech on sleep deprivation in high school students and why high schools around the US should have later start times,” Smearman said.

Smearman not only worked with Tippett-Wertz, but spent time on her own preparing.

“Typically, I read over my speeches a few times and then I pretend to give it to an audience.  I will usually either have my family listen to my speech or video tape it to see what I need to change/fix and make sure that my timing is right.  I go over it until I have most of it memorized and feel good about it,” Smearman said. 

Smearman received first place and will go on to read her speech at the district level in April. Mueller received second place. Rokosky placed third. Each earned a cash prize for their achievements.  

More information can be found on the Rotary of Altoona Website.