News Item

(Pictured above: left - Jordyn Wear, right - Lauren Frost)

June 15, 2011

News item – Students succeed in 2011 public speaking competition

Cowichan Valley students achieved top spots in the 30th Rotary-sponsored Hector McIntosh Public Speaking Competition held last month. And, says Rotary Club of Duncan’s Donna Dawe, this year’s competition chair, it was the best year ever.

“We had 59 semi-finalists with representation from 14 schools. Seven schools were represented at the finals.” Students from both public and private schools are eligible to compete in the annual contest. Categories are seniors (grades 11 and 12); juniors (grades 9 and 10); intermediate (grades 7 and 8); and elementary (up to grade 6).

In seniors, Lake Cowichan Secondary’s Jordyn Wear placed first and Sydnee Biello, a student at Cowichan Secondary was second. Sarah Jones of Lake Cowichan took second place in juniors, while Lauren Frost, also from Lake Cowichan, took third in intermediate. First in elementary was Parker Schmidt of Alex Aitken, and Maple Bay’s KY Leigh Truhn placed second. The top three finishers in each category received financial awards ranging from $70 for third place in elementary to $1,250 for first place in seniors. This year’s total for awards was $4,375.

The object of the Rotary program is to develop the art of public speaking for elementary, junior and secondary students by promoting inter-school competitions. Each schools holds internal competitions to selection two representatives per category for the semi-finals. The rigorous time rules and judging criteria were explained to the students well in advance.

Entrants had to speak for at least four and a half minutes and no more than seven and a half minutes; and speakers were judged on content, delivery and language. Judging emphasis was on delivery which accounted for 50 percent of the mark.