With confidence and poise, six Mary Hopkins School students recently hit the stage to deliver their creatively penned speeches at the Oral Communications Junior Public Speaking competition, where a Grade 5 student earned top honours for his presentation on space travel.

Nathan Krynski wowed the judges with his enthusiasm for the topic. His delivery made an impact thanks to his strong vocal skills and eagerness to share the subject matter with guests in attendance, including his peers and their parents.

Earning a second-place finish at last Tuesday’s competition was Sara Kitching, who thrilled her audience by inviting them aboard her boat cruise in search of sharks. Also in Grade 5, Kitching made great use of tones and pitches to render her journey as interesting as possible.

Third place was awarded to Grade 4 student Sydney Kleven for her fascinating speech on elephants. Clear and concise, Kleven’s research into the subject matter was evident and made for an interesting presentation.

Three other students, including Alison Smoke, Thomas Schattauer and Jaynie Bowler, impressed the judges and did a great job exuding confidence, enthusiasm and character up on stage.

Invited to judge the Mary Hopkins Oral Communications Junior Club participants were Douglas Carr, president of the local Toastmasters chapter, former schoolteacher Terry Junker and Review reporter Catherine O’Hara.

To encourage the students to further their public speaking skills, Carr delivered a short speech prior to announcing the winners. The top three participants received gift cards to Chapters/Indigo!
Krynski was slated to move on to the cluster finals this week to once again take to the stage – this time against other junior and intermediate students from several local schools at Allan A. Greenleaf Public School in Waterdown.