Mikva’s Project Soapbox speech competition is a program that helps teens develop communication skills – such as persuasive writing, issue research, and compelling delivery – that are critical to a young person’s ability to ‘get on a soapbox’ and become an advocate for pressing community issues.
Throughout the months of October and November, over 2,000 CPS high school students will be giving short speeches answering the question: “If you were the next Mayor of Chicago, what is the first community issue you would tackle, and why?”
Project Soapbox, in its seventh year, is an opportunity for students to deliver powerful speeches on issues that are important to them. The winning students from each classroom will participate at the Soapbox final event at Jones high school on Nov. 22, 2014.
The competition serves as a forum for youth to report on life in urban Chicago and, in this election year, chime in on what the current and next mayor should be doing. While many of these young people are not old enough to vote, they can still shape the electoral process with their ideas, passion and Chicago pride.