It is with great pleasure and so much pride that we inform you that we had the pleasure of attending the Lion's Club 'Youth of the Year' formal dinner and speaking competition last night, where our Year 12 Captains and Vice Captains took to the podium with an incredible display of talent, confidence, dedication and charisma.
In the 1st round Chris, Poppy, Liam and Ruby were asked 2 unseen questions each and given 2 minutes to deliver a response. The questions were focused on cultural identity and qualities of leadership. Round 2 saw them deliver some of the finest prepared speeches the crowd had ever had the pleasure of listening to.
Ruby's speech was warm, personal and expertly delivered, leaving not a dry eye in the room as she detailed the incredible life of her Grandma Betty, who was in the audience and unaware that Ruby's speech was going to be a tribute to her.
Chris's speech was incredibly informative, as he spoke of his life as a diabetic. His words were witty and powerful as he drove home the challenges he has faced since his diagnosis at a young age. Chris delivered his entire speech without the use of any notes, confidently strolling across the stage and making the camera man work much harder than I think he had planned to. The best moment was when Chris left the stage, walked straight past the camera man as they shared a smooth elbow bump as a 'thank you' from Chris and a 'well done' from the camera man!
Poppy's speech showcased her beautiful, bright and bubbly personality as she took a compassionate look at how COVID lockdown impacted her and her health as well as the health of the nation. Poppy spoke brilliantly, we could have listened to her speak all night - so much enthusiasm and a touch of humour at all the right intervals.
Lastly, Liam gave us so much to consider with his charming and animated speech about Introspective on Learning. Quoting Mark Twain, he took an analogy and ran with it, much to the delight of an audience roaring with laughter. He is a very, very clever young man.
It is our pleasure to inform you that the winner of the Public Speaking portion of the night was Liam and the overall winner of the event was Chris.
A huge congratulations to all 4 captains who did Ferny so proud! The judges took a very long time deliberating, and returned to tell us that this was one of the toughest contests they had seen!
We have all known for a long time that these 4 students are excellent, but we were again blown away by what we saw last night!
Emma McBryde - Year 12 Coordinator