A Monroe Township student earned first place in the 2017 Middlesex County American Legion Oratorical Contest.
Ria Patel, a sophomore at Monroe Township High School, was sponsored by American Legion Post 522 in Monroe for the finals that were held on Feb. 4 at American Legion Post 87 in Woodbridge. Patel will now compete in the regional contest on March 4 at the Woodbridge Municipal Building.
The runner-up was Rahul Ravindranathan, a freshman at John P. Stevens High School, who was sponsored by American Legion Post 324 in Edison.
Third place went to Divyansh Devnani, a senior at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South, who was sponsored by American Legion Post 401 in South Brunswick.
The purpose of The American Legion High School Oratorical Contest is to develop a deeper knowledge and appreciation of the Constitution of the United States on the part of all high school students. Each contestant delivered a prepared oration about some phase of the Constitution of the United States, as well as an oration on a randomly assigned constitutional topic.
