The Belwood and District Lions Club hosted the annual Effective Speaking competition for area elementary school students on Feb. 28 at Belwood Hall.
Fifteen students from four Fergus-area schools, including John Black Public School, Victoria Terrace Public School, J.D. Hogarth Public School and East Garafraxa Public School, went head to head in four classes: junior English and French for Grades 4 to 6 and intermediate English and French for Grades 7 and 8.
This event has been ongoing for more than 30 years.
The evening of speech presentations was capped off with the trophy and cash awards. The sky was the limit when it came to subject matter, officials state.
The winners circle in junior English included Alexandria Fazaikas of East Garafraxa in first place followed by Grace Ashdown in second and Alli Pettifer in third, both from John Black.
The intermediate English class saw East Garafraxa students Macey Kupfer and Victoria Tarasow place first and second respectively, followed by Madison Clark of John Black in third place.
The French competitors were all from J.D. Hogarth. In the junior French class Evelyn Schaffer placed first and Autumn Green second. In the intermediate French division, Halley Wettlaufer came out on top and classmate Halle Tovell placed second.
New this year, the intermediate contestants were required to prepare a two to three minute impromptu speech in just 15 minutes in addition to their prepared presentations.
All six candidates were successful, with amazing results, organizers state.
