Student of the Week: William Sperrazza

William Sperrazza is a boy with unusual — some might say impossible — ambitions.

When the 15-year-old Bedford student decided to enter last month’s American Legion oratorical contest, he didn’t do so with hopes of taking the top prize. Instead, his goal laid a little closer to home.

“I heard my dad and some of my uncles and their friends talking about taxation,” said Sperrazza, a sophomore at Liberty High School. “They, like most people, were saying taxes are too high.”

“I wanted to try and convince my dad that taxes are good,” he explained. “Not too easy.”

Participants in the American Legion contest were asked to research and present a lengthy speech on some aspect of the U.S. Constitution. Sperrazza chose the 16th Amendment, which established Congress’s right to impose a federal income tax.

Last month, he won the local contest organized by the Bedford American Legion Post 54 and then went on to take the district title at a follow-up contest in Lynchburg.

He collected $150 in scholarship money and an opportunity to compete at state — although a pre-planned family vacation prevented the

latter.

Sperrazza’s interest in American history comes from years of participating in war re-enactments with his father — the two started out in Civil War re-enactments when Sperrazza was 10 and now also do Revolutionary War events.

The Revolutionary War, while less celebrated in these parts, has become one of Sperrazza’s favorite phases of history.

“I think it’s better than the Civil War,” he said. “You didn’t see Americans fighting with each other, you saw people joining together to form their own country. That’s very cool.”

In additon to his interest in history, Sperrazza is also a bona fide virtuoso who started playing the piano at age 4 and has since mastered half a dozen instruments. He hopes to one day teach music at the high school and college levels.

He plans to compete in the American Legion oratorical contest again next year, although he didn’t quite meet his original goal for this year’s event.

“My dad knows taxes are necessary,” he said, “but he still doesn’t like them.”