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Students speak up a storm of awards

At last week’s Hector McIntosh public speaking competition, three local students placed, including Lauren Frost, Sarah Jones, and Jordyn Wear.
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Lake Cowichan Secondary School Hector McIntosh public speaking award winners Jordyn Wear

Lake Cowichan Secondary School students have proven themselves excellent at public speaking.

At last week’s Hector McIntosh public speaking competition, three local students placed, including Lauren Frost, Sarah Jones, and Jordyn Wear.

“The (hosting) Rotary Club said that it was a high quality turnout, so it’s nice to have placed so highly,” teacher Adrian Achurch said, adding that the school beat out some of the Cowichan Valley’s private schools, in addition to public schools.

The annual public speaking event has students speak to a subject of their own choosing.

Wear, who placed first in the Grade 11-12 group, talked about why she doesn’t want to graduate. The humorous speech spoke to her fear of change, and her liking the Cowichan Lake area and its people.

“It was tough. Every speech was amazing,” Wear said.

Lauren Frost placed third in the Grade 7 - 8 group. Her speech was about how people make automatic judgements of others.

“We judge people when we see them, even if we don’t know we’re doing it,” she said. “You judge personalities when you don’t know them at all.”

Her underlying point was that this is a bad thing, she said, and that people shouldn’t be pre-judged.

Placing second in the Grade 9 to 10 group was Sarah Jones, who spoke to the ins and outs of living in a large family.

The event was judged by a Toastmasters group of professional public speakers.

Those who placed received cash prizes, with Wear topping the scales with $1,250 in winnings for her first-place finish.