LITTLE CURRENT—Once again, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 177 was filled with students and families, gathered for their annual public speaking event. This year, 13 students took part, all from the Little Current Public School.
Charles Adam was MC while his wife Carmen and Lin Diebel were the scrutineers. The judges, Michael Erskine, Linda Erskine and John Diebel, were given a strict set of criteria by which to judge the speakers. If they stood rigidly while delivering their speech, it cost them. Going over the allotted time, or under it, cost the speaker (except for those in Grades 1 to 3). There were a few jitters and false starts, but all did their best and were well received. A wide variety of interesting topics, delivered with confidence and flare, made the afternoon an entertaining one. Topics ranged from hunting turkeys, to fishing, to running a half marathon, to being a twin and more.
Once the scores were tallied, the four speakers in the grade one to three category ended up in this order: 1st place Rowan McGale; 2nd place Rose Karn; 3rd place Evie O’Neil, and 4th place Avaryn Chapman. There were seven students competing in the Grades 4 to 7 category and they were: 1st Piper McGale; 2nd Lily Massicotte; 3rd Alvine Burnett; 4th Simon Fessendon, 5th Saviera Maracle, 6th Daniel Thibodeau and 7th Freddy Stephens. In the Grade 7 to 9 group, only two students competed: 1st place Ada Nicholls, and 2nd place Brooke Simon.
Fear of public speaking is real, and according to some statistics, over 77 percent of the population has some degree of anxiety when it comes to speaking in public, so, congratulations to all the brave students who took part. “They are all winners,” Linda Erskine said.
The first-place winners now move on to the Lockerby Legion Branch 564 on Sunday, February 23. Best wishes to them in their next competition.
by Margery Frisch
