On Wednesday evening, June 28th, the ninth AvÐÔ°® Christi College Public Speaking Competition took place in the Sadler Centre. Students had mixed emotions of nervousness and excited anticipation. There were 43 competitors in 6 separate heats, which ran concurrently, followed by 8 students participating in the impromptu speech competition. The evening was a great success providing the audience with entertaining and inspiring speeches. I would like to commend all the speakers who took up the challenge to speak publicly. They can be very proud of their achievements. The skills of public speaking acquired over Terms 1 and 2 will stand them in good stead in the years to come.

An evening such as this would not be possible without the support of so many people. Thank you to the parents and families of the students for their ongoing support and for being such an enthusiastic audience. Thanks to all the adjudicators on the evening; past students Sean Yoong, Mallorie Gan, Daniel Thomas, Wai Sin Wan, Sam Coten, Rebekah Craggs and Brielle Petterson. The task was daunting, with many adjudicators commenting on the high standard of the competition. In addition, I would like to thank Peter Ho and Kenith Png who were the Masters of Ceremony for the evening. Peter’s banter and Kenith’s book of puns kept the audience amused when there was a lull between speakers. Other student leaders; Mitchell Garland, Jack Dellaca, Ashley Taylor, Jack Maguire, Nikkitta Fortune, Alex Di Rosso and Sarah Montague carried out so many roles including chairing, setting up and time keeping. Many thanks to those students.

In other news in Public Speaking, the State Final of the Rostrum Voice of Youth took place on Saturday June 24th. AvÐÔ°® Christi College was represented by Ike Adesanya in the Senior Section and Mosaia McDonald and Gianni Petta in the Junior Section. All were exceptional in the delivery of their speeches. All three students represented the College with poise and eloquence. Their dedication to prepare a new speech in a matter of weeks after the semi- finals and keep up with school work and assessments is nothing less than inspirational. It was a proud moment for me and the family members present.

I am delighted to announce that Mosaia McDonald has progressed through to the National Finals which will be held in Brisbane at the end of July. This is an amazing feat and on behalf of the College community, I would like to extend to her our congratulations and best wishes for the final.

In addition, Emma Shine from Year 11 was presented with a trophy to acknowledge her progression through to the State Final of the Rotary Voice of Youth Competition in May this year.

The most prestigious award for Public Speaking by the College is the Excellence in Public Speaking Trophy. It acknowledges a student’s ability to construct a speech that impacts not only on the intellect but also on the emotion. It also recognises a student who is successful in both the College competitions as well as external competitions such as Rostrum and Plain English Speaking. Year 12 student, Olivia Fuderer, is the 2017 recipient of the AvÐÔ°® Christi College Excellence in Public Speaking Trophy. She was presented with this award on Wednesday. Olivia is a most worthy recipient.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank Olivia Fuderer for efforts in coaching a group of Year 7 students. Olivia gave generously of her time and expertise, which enabled this extra curricular activity to take place.

I am also very grateful to Mrs Manuela Piscetek, Miss Tessa Johnson, Mr Sam Coten and Mr Leith Daniel for their support and assistance in coaching students this year. The time and energy they devoted to this after school activity cannot be underestimated. Without the help of these wonderful people, the opportunity for so many students to be involved in public speaking would not have been possible. My sincere thanks are extended to all.

Public Speaking will be available again next year in Semester One. I look forward to seeing all the students back again for another exciting year.

Mrs Noreen Stevenson

Coordinator

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 RESULTS OF THE AvÐÔ°® PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION 2017

Prepared Speech Results

                                              Winners                                         Runners Up

Year 10                                 Erin Martin                                   Rachael Dellaca

Junior Section Heat 1          Mosaia McDonald                        Deanna Clancey-Martin                    

Junior Section Heat 2         Isabella Cuocci                             Emma Runyon

Junior Section Heat 3         Jenna Riordan                               Lola Daniel                           

Year 7 Heat 1                        Emma Garland                              Rachael Sanctis 

Year 7 Heat 2                        Lara Delilkan                                 Zack Cohen 

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Impromptu Speaking Results

Senior Winner                     Rachael Dellaca

Junior Winner                     Gianni Petta

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