Proud public speakers

MONIKA ULLMANN

They quoted Elie Wiesel, crafted pithy statements and cheered loudly to express their enthusiasm for fellow speakers. And they showed as much prowess throwing the coveted balls they received as prizes as they did on the podium.

When the more than 150 speakers from Grades 4 through 7 had demonstrated their speaking talents, parents, grandparents and friends who had come to be part of the 18th annual Public Speaking Contest held March 9 at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver (JCC) looked almost as excited as their offspring.

"The children have so much poise and confidence," said proud grandmother Florence Pancer. "It's wonderful."

And as Geoffrey Druker, the moderator for the Grade 6 Group B students said in his short opening address, each student was already a winner because they had committed to something a lot of adults find about as attractive as a root canal. It's generally agreed that public speaking is an important life skill for everyone, he said, but many people never get comfortable behind a lectern.

Judging from the quality of the presentations, this is about to change. All of the students had worked hard, that was clear. And every student got applause and cheers as they headed towards the microphone and absolute attention was paid to what they had to say. Aside from having to do a lot of research on their topic, they also had to keep the speech to a precise time.

Samantha Levine said she had practised for five days in front of her class and her family and had managed to cut her talk down to the required three minutes. She delivered her speech, which was about the history of the Children's Prayer and what it meant to her and her family, in just under the allotted time.

She was one of several students who had chosen topics related to keeping the Jewish faith alive in everyday life - honoring its traditions and understanding its roots.

Three students in this Grade 6 group chose the Holocaust as their topic. The ongoing conflict in Israel and what it might be like to be a soldier fighting in it was an equally moving topic chosen by a couple of the students. There was also a speech about why Jews should care about global warming, by linking it to the Torah and the commandment not to corrupt or desecrate the world.

Nathan Hawkins opened his speech about the importance of not taking Israel for granted with the statement: "Israel is the duct tape that has always kept us together."

The speech gave Hawkins first place in his group.

Students were judged on both content and style, each worth 50 points, for a possible total of 100 points. Each grade was presented with a trophy at the end and the overall winner in each group read his/her winning speech to thunderous applause.

Monika Ullmann is a Vancouver freelance writer and editor. She can be reached at [email protected].

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