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Monroe Youth Challenge Program's Katie Greenman Could Win National Speech Competition and $40,000 on New York Radio Tonight With Your Vote

NEW YORK -- Katie Greenman, a senior at Marathon High School, has been selected from thousands of entrants as a finalist in the 2nd National 'Words That Shook the World' High School Public Speaking Competition. She is set to compete on national radio in the finals Martin Luther King Holiday, Monday Jan. 21 from 8 to 10 p.m.

Greenman made it into the finals with “Being an Agent of Change” speech which came from her many years as a volunteer and youth leader with Monroe Youth Challenge Program which hosts Challenge Days in all three public high schools.

Greenman has been an international youth leader as well as local. She has initiated many school-based campaigns to raise awareness about civic issues like Students Working Against Tobacco and the Red Cross Measles Initiative to save lives and Stockings for Troops. She has also raised more than $10,000 to provide shoes and beds for poor students in Kenya where she spent her summer vacation building a girl’s dormitory.

Some of this work is referenced in her speech which can be heard online and voted for 10 p.m. Monday night through 3 p.m. Tuesday at www.AirAmerica.com/Clout. Listeners vote online for their favorite speaker to determine each person’s winnings.

The winner of the speech competition, founded by Richard Greene, a speech coach to presidents, prime ministers and even Princess Diana and author of "Words That Shook The World: 100 Years of Unforgettable Speeches and Events," is to receive a $40,000 college scholarship. The runner-up is to receive $10,000 in savings bonds and all 10 finalists are to receive a minimum of $2,500 in bonds.