Historical information

From 1988 to 2021, Legacy held a public speaking contest for young secondary school students. It was initially called the Junior Plain English Speaking Award (JPESA) and later called Legacy Junior Public Speaking Award (LJPSA). Schools were eligible to send along up to 4 representatives to compete in a preliminary round.
These photos are from the first National Final on 17 October 1996. They show President Ray Ward congratulating the winner, Ross Ditcham from Flinders Christian Community College. Also Commonwealth Bank's Glenn Haslem presenting prize money. A guest speaker was Channel 7's sports presenter Jim Wilson. Other commended students were Simon Winkler and Penny Mayes and Luke Raffin.
The following was taken from a programme in 1996: "The Award aim is to promote enhanced oral communication skills for 12-14 year old students and to help young people appreciate the ideals of Legacy - voluntary service, caring and comradeship - and the need for remembrance. It began in 1988 in the Melbourne area with the support of the Ministry of Education and The Plain English Foundation.
Entries have grown from 24 in the 1988 competition to over 300 in schools across the State, plus greater numbers participating in the process of selecting four contestants from each school. In 1995, a successful Interstate Championship was held with contestants from Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. On 11 November 1996 the first National final was held with contestants from six states."

Significance

A record of the Junior Plain Speaking contest that has been run by Legacy since 1988.

Physical description

Colour photo x 11 of Junior Plain English Speaking contest State Final in 1996 and an article in the Answer.