“Speech is power; speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
In week 4, the Year 9 students came together to hear the top speakers of their year group represent their form class and compete for the title of Champion Year 9 Speaker.
The Year 9 Prepared Speech competition ran as part of the Integrated Studies programme this year. Following on from our studies of structures of government, the boys were given the task of sharing their thoughts on 'The one thing I would change in New Zealand.'
The topics for this year were diverse and included poverty, environmental issues and animal cruelty. Given the sincerity with which the boys discussed their topics, I feel confident that if these boys represent our future leaders, we are in good hands.
The competition was judged this year by Mr Karlsberg and Mrs Mullenger. They both commented that on the very high quality of speeches and the ability of the competitors to utilise skills in areas of content and presentation.
The finalists competing were: Hamish McIntyre, John Mengel, Luca Bevin, Luke von Melville, Nic Hinton, Seb Ferro, William Stevens and Zavier Paterson.
Final placings awarded were:
1st - Hamish McIntyre
2nd - Luca Bevan
3rd - Luke von Melville