Students at Summerland Secondary School spoke out at a recent public speaking contest organized by the school.
Alan Stel, principal of the high school, said the event was open to students from Grade 9 to Grade 12. Speeches were judged on form, content, style, delivery and overall impression.
“These are among some of the very best I’ve heard,”Stel said of the speakers.
The contest was organized by teachers Jane Stead and Cherrie Wells. Earlier in the year, each student wrote, prepared and presented a speech in their English class. From these, 35 finalists were selected.
Grade 9: First Sophie Eaton, Teenhood Similarities and Differences; second Andrew Mitchell, Branding; third Karl Engleman, Opa.
Grade 10: First Paige Russill, The Apple; second Katie Van Bergeyk, Breaking the Stigma; third Hannah Patterson, I Want to Change the World.
Grade 11: First Faith Fraser, Cereal; second Olivia Corps, One of our World’s Biggest Hidden Problems; third Natalie Benoit The Problem with Grades.
Grade 12: First Jenayah Lefebvre, Memoir of my Mom; second Ethan Freistadt, Life with Curly Hair, third Josh Fitzpatrick, Meditation.