St Joseph's pupils top speechmakers at inter-school competition

St Joseph's School pupils Camryn Higginson, left, and Erin Trent, who won the Dannevirke Inter-school Speech Competition. Photo / Hayley Max

Did you know that bull sharks are more dangerous than great white sharks and that if it wasn't for friction you would fall right on your face!

Well, you would if you'd attended the Year 5-8 Inter-school Speech Competition held at The Hub on Thursday night.

A battle of words brought seven schools from throughout the Tararua District together for some light-hearted verbal sword play.

The subjects covered by the contestants were quite diverse, beginning with cats in the Year 5-6 section and ending with global warming in the Year 7-8 section.

This year it was St Joseph's School's turn to shine, as it won first prize in both categories. Both Erin Trent and Camryn Higginson impressed the judges with their sparkling personalities and relevant topics that held lots of appeal for the audience.

Ruahine School also excelled, with second place in both categories. Hunter Marshall presented a humorous speech on bull sharks while Casey Mitchell inspired all with the life of Sophie Pascal, New Zealand's youngest ever Paralympic champion.

Huia Range's Aja Chapman-Peters and South School's Jayla Alexander rounded out the medals with third place in each category respectively.

Jonny Max of Totara College was chairperson of the competition. He said all in all it was a great evening with an attentive audience who were supportive of each contestant, laughed in all the right places and appeared to thoroughly enjoy the night's proceedings.

Results: Year 5-6, Camryn Higginson (St Joseph's School) 1, Hunter Marshall (Ruahine School) 2, Aja Chapman-Peters (Huia Range School) 3.

Year 7-8, Erin Trent (St Joseph's School) 1, Casey Mitchell (Ruahine School) 2, Jayla Alexander (South School) 3.