ORATORICAL FESTIVAL DATES

The date for our parish-level St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival is usually in early March and appears in our Church School Calendar.

The 2026 dates and places for the St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festivals (all levels) are as follows:

• • Parish-Level: St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church - Sunday, March 8, 2026.

  • District (Michigan): Location and date to be announced

  • Metropolis of Detroit: Location and date to be announced

  • Nationals: Location and date to be announced.

STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN THE ST. NICHOLAS PARISH ORATORICAL FESTIVAL

All Church School students, from Preschool to 12th Grade, participate in our parish-level Oratorical Festival and must turn in their speeches or assignments to their teachers by the due date.  Fr. Nick goes over all speeches and assignments and provides encouragement and support to all students.

Preschool to 5th Grade

• • Students in Preschool to 5th Grade are given assignments by their teachers based on age, knowledge, and skill level. Depending on student age, these vary from drawing pictures to writing short essays on selected topics.

6th to 12th Grade

• • Students in Grades 10-11-12 write an essay on one of the Senior Division topics.

  • Students in Grades [6]-7-8-9 write an essay on one of the Junior Division topics.

  • (Note: Officially, the Junior Division includes Grades 7-8-9. At St. Nicholas, we also encourage our 6th Graders to write a Junior Division speech, too, and deliver it before the panel of judges as a way to practice for next year.)

Speech Time Limits

• Junior Division, Grades [6]-7-8-9:    minimum 3 minutes, maximum 4 minutes

• Senior Division, Grades 10-11-12:   minimum 4 minutes, maximum 5 minutes

Audience

On the date of the parish-level Oratorical Festival, students in 6th through 12th Grade deliver their speeches to their peers and to a panel of judges. This is a wonderful experience and a requirement for formal participation and possible advancement in the Oratorical Festival.

Printed Copies of Speeches

Oratorical Festival participants must also submit a printed copy of their speech to the Oratorical Festival Chairperson before or during the Orientation Session (typed, double-spaced, and printed on 8-1/2 x 11 paper).

ORATORICAL FESTIVAL INFORMATION, REGULATIONS, GUIDELINES

All parish-level St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festivals follow the latest regulations provided by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America:

• (NEW) St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival Manual (pdf)

The Archdiocese website for the St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival is the official source of all information concerning the festival.

• • It describes the Purpose & Structure of the St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival.

  • It also provides valuable guidelines for Preparing for a Local Oratorical Festival that can help our students get started.

2026 TOPICS, TIPS, RESOURCES

The speech topics for the St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival are different each year and are chosen by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

• 2026 St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival: Topics, Tips, & Resources (pdf)

In addition, our Church School website provides practical tips on speech writing and presentation, as well as guidelines to help students get started with their speech.

Excellent tips on how to write a speech are also available online on wikihow.com.

DEVELOPMENT OF ORATORICAL FESTIVAL SKILLS

Volunteer parishioners have made presentations to our Church School students about developing a speech for the Oratorical Festival in which they have emphasize both the written aspects as well as presentation skills.

Some of these presentations included handouts with guidelines about developing oratorical festival skills that are available through the menu item "Oratorical Festival Skills".

ORATORICAL FESTIVAL MODEL SPEECHES

The menu item "Model Speeches" links to oratorical festival speeches by students from our parish that have been recognized at National Oratorical Festivals. They include the 2012 Oratorical Festival speech by Athena Chapekis that was awarded second place in the Junior Division and the 2003 Oratorical Festival speech by Nicholas Moniodis that was awarded first place in the Senior Division. They are both excellent models to follow.

NEW: The St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival website of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America now includes the winning speeches from past years as examples to follow.

CHURCH SCHOOL LIBRARY OF REFERENCE BOOKS, DVDs, CDs

Our Church School continues to build a library of recommended reference books to help our students prepare and write their speeches for the St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival. The library already contains many recommended books, DVDs and CDs. 

All Church School library material is available in a bookcase by the South door of the Greek School classroom. 

Students can borrow any of the available material by signing their name and making a note in the sign-out notebook kept in the bookcase.

Look for the "Library" menu item above to explore a list and description of the material currently available.  Check it out!

ORATORICAL FESTIVAL CONTACT PERSON

Please address any questions to our St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival program chairperson:

Anastasia Mitropoulos-Rundus
anamitro16@gmail.com