 |
|
|
|
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Young Orator: Shahin Maleksalehi, 12, a sixth-grader from Rogers Middle School, gives his four-minute award-winning speech in front of a crowd at Castro Middle School during the seventh annual speech tournament. Maleksalehi's speech topic was about being a good person and making a difference in the world.
Students' essays prove moving at Moreland's speech tourney
By Amy Jenkins
What would you do to make a difference in the world?
The broad question would be difficult for many adults to answer, but when posed with the same interrogative, middle school students in the Moreland School District's 7th annual speech tournament Feb. 28 came up with many inspiring responses.
"As a seventh grader I can't stop violence, terrorism or world hunger," said Kayleen Sheffield in her speech. "But I can help children develop a love for books."
Sheffield kicked off her speech with a startling statistic--"half of the people in America can't read."
Instead of living with this realization, she decided to tutor elementary school age children after school, during the summer and at the library near her home.
Other students decided the solutions to bettering the world would be volunteering time with the elderly, smiling at a stranger, striking up a conversation with a shy child, playing music to at-risk students and making pen pals with people on the Internet to share what it is like to be an American.
Before making her speech, Megan Frost approached the audience, made eye contact with everyone and said "hello." She proceeded to ask the audience to look at someone next to them and smile.
"Do you feel better and happier now?" she asked.
The idea for audience participation came from her teacher Randy Martino, she said. In her speech she said, "When people smile at one another they are not so closed off in their own thoughts and a smile is contagious, it goes on and on and it only requires 17 facial muscles."
When asked about her experience at the contest, she responded, "I found it very exciting and thrilling, and I was very nervous the entire time."
This was the first time the 12-year-old from Rogers Middle School has made it to the district level in a speech contest. "It was a very good experience to practice public speaking," Frost said.
Scott Nelson admitted he asked his family for help with this daunting question. Some ideas they came up with were to recycle and stop polluting. He said, "I think everyone should be a little kinder to people around them. This will start a chain that will go on forever."
Scott's mother, Gerri Nelson, listened to the speech in the audience, while recording it on video. "I think it's great," Gerri said. "I'm very proud of him, and I like the chance he gets to speak publicly."
Teresa Kullick brought her own family into her speech. To make the point that it is important to visit the elderly and spend time with them, she mentioned how important it was for her to learn about the hardships her great aunt endured in her lifetime. Kullick described her experience at a retirement home after Christmas, where she sang songs and talked to the elderly about their family and hobbies.
Two students from grades four through eight were selected to participate in the tournament from each school in the district. The tournament judges were high- profile community members and included San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales.
Brian Conroy, Moreland School District Speech Tournament coordinator said about the contest, "It went well. I think it was a terrific opportunity for students to express themselves and share their visions, hopes and dreams for the future.
"I tried to pick a topic to make the students do a higher level of thinking," Conroy added.
Fourth-grade winners were Katie Brennan and Nikita Bedi; fifth-grade winners were Alison Norris and Evan Wegley; sixth-grade winners were Shahin Maleksalehi and Lindsey Zea; seventh-grade winners were Scott Nelson and Andy Chu; and eighth-grade winners were Caroline Ogawa and Tra Truong.
|
|
|
|
Campbell, California
