De La Salle Holy Cross College dominated at the Rotary Club of Northcliff’s annual speech competition at Franklin D Roosevelt Primary School on 28 October. The event, entitled An Evening of Speeches, has been run by the club for over 30 years and at each event, the winning school is asked to host the event the following year. This year, 10 primary and preparatory schools competed at the school in Roosevelt Park, with a pupil from each school giving a short prepared speech, and another pupil presenting a short impromptu speech.
The prepared speeches had the topic, How do you use your talents to serve others, and the impromptu speeches had the topic, Can education be free? De La Salle Holy Cross College took first place overall and Constantia Kloof Primary School took second place. The winner of the best prepared speech award was Melina Manferdini of De La Salle, who spoke of how community service at a retirement village taught her the importance of using her talents to serve others. The runner-up was Sabrina Jordaan of Constantia Kloof Primary School.
The winner of the best impromptu speech was Jonathan Faller of De La Salle, who said that education needed to be free, as it is the solution to corruption in the country. The runner-up was Nkensani Kgotlamang of Sharonlea Primary. De La Salle Grade 7 grade head Deborah Boroughs said that she was very proud of the pupils who won, and the school will host the event next year with great excitement.
Rotary Club of Northcliff president Francis Callard said, “We encourage speech competitions because the learning that goes into preparing speeches, and the development of self-confidence in delivering a speech, are collectively more valuable than the prize itself.” He added that the self-confidence gained in these speeches can help in one’s future business or academic career.
Other local schools that participated included Franklin D Roosevelt Primary School, Greenside Primary School and Northcliff Primary School.
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