Speeches have changed the lives of millions, from famous speeches such as Martin Luther King Junior’s “I Have A Dream” to emotional speeches like Emmeline Pankhurst’s “Freedom or Death.” The words within speeches show morality, will-power and grit. The Interact Club, a club based on the same principles, was proposed with a challenge: create a speech with an argument of one’s choice using the Four-Way Test, an expression which the Rotary and Interact Club members live by; it goes as follows:

First, is it the truth?

Second, is it fair to all concerned?

Third, will it build goodwill and better friendships?

Fourth, is it beneficial to all concerned?

Out of 30 Interact Club members, sophomore Samara Huckvale rose to the occasion. Huckvale’s argument against unequal distribution of money in the educational system exceeded expectations, winning her $250 awarded by Wylie’s own Rotary Club.

“I was reading Freakonomics, and there was a chapter about teachers making up grades–essentially cheating in low income areas,” Huckvale said. “The idea was so foreign to me that I was intrigued to do more research.”

Huckvale says she spent hours looking into information and statistics before writing her speech.

“It was kind of scary,” Huckvale said. “I had so little time to perfect an entire argument against the American Education System.”

Her speech touched on issues such as unequal dispersal of money in America, failures within public education, and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002.

Huckvale is also in the Humanities program, so writing essays in a short period of time wasn’t the hardest part of the process. In fact, Huckvale is also an Advanced Placement student, involved in extracurriculars such as StuCo leadership, theatre, and is president of Interact.

“Essentially she had to write an analytical essay,” sponsor of Interact Club Mrs. Samantha Smith said. “So I think all her classes combined really pushed her success.”

Huckvale is excited to see how her speech holds up in a more stressful environment. She had to present her speech in front of Rotary Club members March 1; next round, it’ll be at Collin College in front of a judge April 21.

“This’ll be great exposure for Interact Club,” Smith said. “We’re not just a about volunteering; we’re also about developing well-rounded people for society.”