PREECEVILLE — Preeceville School students in Grades 4 to 8 rose to the challenge of public speaking in front of a panel of judges, teachers, peers and parents in an oratory competition on May 29.
“Oratory refers to the art of public speaking,” said Erin Erickson, competition organizer. “Students began their challenge as a class project where they were requested to recite a poem or read their own compositions in class. The project was part of the ELA public speaking program," she said.
In Grades 4, 5 and 6, students had to memorize and recite a poem, while in Grades 7 and 8, they were to compose and present their own speeches,” said Erickson.
Judges for the event were Chris Balyski, Toni Lario and Susan Robertson.
In Grades 4, 5 and 6 poetry category, Blakley Firman recited, A Dog for All Seasons; Max McLauglin recited, My Dog Likes to Disco; Carsyn Wiwcharuk recited Today is Not a Good Day; Becca Spray recited The Cookie Thief; Zachary Durand recited, A Sorcerer has Cursed Me; Blake Erickson recited The Dog Ate Our Dinner; Macy Balawyder recited The Pig; Sage Ward recited My Dumb Cat and Sophie Petras recited My Dog Chewed Up My Homework.
In Grades 7 to 8 speech category, Chase Danielson recited The Minecraft Movie was the Best; Abby Scheller recited Why School Should Start Later; Alex Algabre, Do You Shower in the Morning or at Night; Trenley Nelson, Kindness is a Strength, Not a Weakness; Xhanine Solchaga, The Benefits of Being Athletic and Hailey Spray, How to Make Your Life Better.
The top winner in each category, taking home a trophy, were Macy Balawyder for poetry and Hailey Spray for speech.
All participants received certificates for their efforts.
In the poetry category, students were judged on the memorization of the poem, enunciation, facial and vocal expressions, volume, voice inflection, posture, pace and appropriate pauses, difficulty and length of poem, and actions and gestures. The judges also gave points for judges’ discretion and audience appeal.
In the speech category, students were judged on fluency, memorization of speech and smoothness, diction, enunciation and pronunciation, volume, facial and vocal expressions, pacing, poise, voice inflection, quality and quantity, organization, style usage, vocabulary, variety and judges’ discretion and audience appeal.
