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Preeceville School oratory competition challenges students

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 February 3.

            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 February 3.

            “Oratory refers to the art of public speaking,” said Erin Stolar, 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.

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 Stolar.

            The top three students from each grade advanced to the competition where the top students in the poetry and speech category each received a trophy. Judges for the event were Cary Franklin, Arlene Prestie and Kim Dyky.

            In grades 4, 5 and 6, poetry category, Zach Sorgen won for his poem Olympic Granny. Other entries featured Trina Correos, The Village Blacksmith; Matthew Korney, Call the Please; Carter Scheller, Our Teacher likes Minecraft; Summer Stroeder, A Snake Named Rover; Cassidy Paterson, What You Mean to Me; Fiona Pinaroc, Thinking in Bed; Alecia Shuba, The  Lovetobutcants, and Maicey Scheller, The Author Regrets that his Memory has Forgotten the Title of this Poem).

            In the grades 7 to 8 speech category, Erik Sandager won for his speech, The Hunting Argument. Other entries featured Skylar German, The Internet has Ruined Me; Kate Covlin, Excuses for Every Occasion; Katryna Englot, Best Crazy Uses for Duct Tape;  Jesse Tuz, Three Facts About Playing Video Games that You Probably Didn't Know About, and Tyrell Olson, Superheroes.

            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.