Junior Oratory Contest
August 25, 2017 | BY Mrs A. M. Peltason
The standard of the speeches at the Junior Oratory Contest this year was exceptional. Speech topics were intelligent and thoughtfully chosen, and the speakers well-prepared. It was particularly gratifying to see and hear the experienced returning speakers in Grade 5 and 6 making good use of tips gleaned at last year’s competition. There is no more effective lesson than that provided by experience.
The organization of the competition, by able presenters Liqhawa Nogampula, Carly Erasmus and Pholisa Madlavu, under the careful guidance of Miss S. Arthur, ran with a polished smoothness; the audience was appreciative and well-behaved, and the speakers, to a man (woman) electrifying.
Junior section speakers, Callan Elie (How to Teach your Granny to Text) and Sibabalwe Daniels (How to Successfully Annoy your Parents) were accomplished comics, holding the audience in thrall. The indelible image of granny’s hair blown back in the car, and her reversing the screen to read ‘Samsung’ will remain in our minds for a long time, as will the three tongue-in-cheek rules offered by Sibabalwe to make sure you annoy your parents. Leya Bosman’s speech on Why we should not take our family for granted, was in a more serious vein and she paid a lovely tribute to sisters, more particularly older sisters, whose contribution to a younger sibling’s life is sometimes unappreciated for years. It is remarkable to witness the maturity of these young girls as they deal with topics that are really quite adult. The ultimate winner of the Grade 4 and 5 section was Rebecca Wilkinson, whose exceptional diction, and well rehearsed presentation of her topic: How to Tell if your Pet needs Counselling earned her almost full marks. I had never before considered a fish needing counselling!
Grade 6 and 7 speakers Jesse de Vos gave a spirited speech on the kind of Unity we need in this country; Kate-Lynn Forbes, the ultimate winner, educated and inspired us on the place of Women in the world; a highly individual and energetic Rachel Akilo gave a speech entitled What if…? and Tenique Boswell entreated the audience to Shine! in the most appealing manner.
All the participants are winners, and the audience certainly agreed on this. The teachers, too, felt great pride in their girls’ achievements, and justly so, as the competition testifies to an excellent standard of training and skills acquisition at every grade level. Adjudicating the Junior Oratory Competition is certainly an honour and one of the highlights of my year.
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