Temora Shire Council hosted the inaugural Mayor’s Public Speaking Challenge on 18 October, in the Temora Memorial Town Hall.
Mayor Rick Firman OAM hosted the event, which was open to Shire Primary School students from Years 3, 4, 5 and 6. Schools involved included Ariah Park Central, St Anne’s Central and Temora Public Schools. Temora West Public School were unable to participate.
Topics for the speeches included: Year Three – My best holiday; Year Four – What peace means to me; Year Five – It’s complicated…; Year Six – What is Community?
Winners for the inaugural Mayor’s Public Speaking Challenge were: Year Three – Ella McCrone (St Anne’s), Year Four – Annabelle Gray (St Anne’s), Year Five – Anna Chambers (Ariah Park Central), Year Six – Brodie Gray (St Anne’s).
Mayor Firman and general manager Melissa Boxall presented the medals and Temora Shire gift cards to the winners, with certificates and boxed pens given as thank you gifts to all speakers.
“We couldn’t have been more proud of the students who were involved with this inaugural challenge – they did a marvellous job,” Mayor Firman said.
“It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I first became Mayor in 2012. We didn’t have opportunities like this when I was at school – which isn’t that long ago… We wanted to give our youngsters an opportunity to develop their public speaking skills.
“We’ve already had a request from schools that we broaden the scope to include Secondary schools, next year, which we will definitely consider,” Mayor Firman added.
A special thank you to local businessman Mr Peter Heinrich (Intersales), for donating extra prizes for the winners, the MC – Mr Grant Haigh (principal – St Anne’s), the adjudicators (Mr Ian Reid, Mrs Nadine Johnson and Ms Jodie Tame) and executive assistant – Mrs Anne Rands for organising the event.
