Daniel Dawson, 17, of Glen Burnie and a junior at Rockbridge Academy, a classical and Christian school in Millersville, won $1,000 at the Rotary International District Conference held April 30 in Ellicott City where he took second prize in the Rotary 4-Way Speech Contest.
“This is the highest level any student from our area has obtained,” says retired Navy Adm. John Kersh, local speech contest coordinator and Annapolis Rotarian. “Daniel won his contest at the Rockbridge Academy and then $200 for being the local Annapolis Area High School Contest winner on March 30. He was one of four contestants who qualified as a finalist at the District Semi-Finals. More than 50 students completed at the District Semi-Finals at Glen Burnie High School on April 9. At the annual Rotary District Conference, he came in second.”
Daniel is the son of the Rev. Thomas Dawson, the minister at Chesapeake Christian Center in Pasadena, and Lisa D. Dawson, who is a registered nurse at Harbor Hospital. His rhetoric teacher at Rockbridge is Corrina Neuman and his school principal is Ralph Janikowsky, a retired Navy captain. Daniel is a lacrosse player at his school. A gifted pianist, he is the accompanist for his school choir and pianist at his church. He enjoys volunteer activities in the community, which includes entertaining residents of an assisted care facility. He is one of the few selected for the U.S. Naval Academy summer seminar, for which more than 19,000 high school juniors across the country applied.
The topic of the speech contest is based on the four-way test of Rotary International shared by all members: Is it the TRUTH? Is it FAIR to all concerned? Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned? The purpose of the contest is to help youth, Rotarians and the community-at-large to more completely understand, encourage, and foster the principles of Rotary and the objectives of “Service Above Self.”
