Grade 7 and 8 Hawthorn students have eagerly responded to the challenge of participating in the Mary Matthews Public Speaking Contest, an event sponsored by the Catholic Women’s League of Canada. Starting with speeches in their English classes, and practising for both of the required categories – prepared and impromptu speeches – students and teachers finally selected one Grade 7 and one Grade 8 student as our best candidates for the parish level of the contest. Congratulations to Aila and Aimelia for your excellent speaking skills and for stepping up to represent Hawthorn at this annual competition!
The contest was held at St. Bonaventure’s Parish Hall at 1300 Leslie Street on Thursday, February 6th. We drove our Grades 6 to 8 students down to the event to provide moral and vocal support for Aila and Aimelia. There were a total of 13 contestants, as well as three judges, a time-keeper, an MC, our local CWL president and executive members, and hundreds of excited classmates and their teachers cheering on their best speakers. Prepared speeches ranged widely in topic, including titles such as The Purpose of Education, Alternative Fashion, The Consequences of Poverty, Cancer and its Effects on Families, and Squash is Better Than Tennis. The impromptu category gave each student two minutes to prepare a short speech about their favourite animal. Points for delivery and content were awarded for each type of speech, and we eagerly awaited the results which named only the students who achieved the three best scores.
You can imagine our excitement when Aimelia‘s name was called first for her speech on Character Development and her impromptu speech on hyenas; she won third place. And we erupted into cheers again when Aila won first place for her speech on King Tut and her impromptu speech on horses. We are so proud of both of you, girls!
As the top speaker at the parish level of this event, Aila will now prepare for the upcoming regional competition. The final event will be the diocesan level of the Mary Matthews Public Speaking Contest on Saturday, March 1st.
Special thanks go out to Miss. Kim, Dr. Helmers and Miss Yu who prepared their students so beautifully for this event which showcased their outstanding communication skills. Your dedication and expertise are truly wonderful!