The 15-year-old Logan Park High School pupil won the Otago Race Unity Speech Competition last week, and represented the region at the national finals with St Hilda's Collegiate School year 11 pupil Ilhara McIndoe, who was second in the Otago competition.
They were among 24 secondary school pupils from around New Zealand to compete in the competition.
Jacobi was delighted: ''It's fantastic. To go in as the youngest contestant, competing against Year 13 pupils, and come away with a placing - it's great.''
His speech, titled ''Imagine, New Zealand'' was about his dream for the country, which was equality.
''Every single fibre of every single thread that enters that same eye of the needle - black, white and red - all traversed together; symbolises every family, every person and every ancestor of the races and cultures that contributes to making New Zealand such a diverse, vibrant and multicultural nation.
''And every single person of those families and races count, and they matter,'' an excerpt from his speech said.
He memorised the 8-minute speech and said putting a lot of passion into it had been key to his success.
''It was quite a political speech. It was delivered as if I was a politician, but with moments which captured the emotions of the audience.
''It was a lot like the way Martin Luther King would do it,'' he said.
Jacobi won $750 for his school and $750 for himself.
He said the money would go straight into his savings account for ''a nice speech-giving suit''.
He plans to pursue a career as a politician and said he needed the suit because politicians were some of the best-dressed people in society.
