Howick Rotary held its annual Brian Hanlon Howick College four-way test speech contest for year 9 and 10 students recently.
This followed on from the previous judging at the college to select the finalists.
The winner of the Brian Hanlon speech contest award for this year was Stella Donaldson, who spoke on the subject of “the problems and acceptance of people with disabilities”.
Stella and fellow year 10 finalists Ella Worthington, Nathan Cox and Caleb Carr presented some thought-provoking speeches to an audience of their families, college staff and Rotary club guests and members.
Among the club’s guests were Michelle and Robbie Inness, Brian and Hazel Hanlon’s daughter and son-in-law, with Michelle assisting in the awarding of the prizes and the presentation of her late father’s Memorial Trophy.
Rotarians Barry Nicholls, Malcolm Pascoe and David Owen completed the judging with Colin Monk acting as timekeeper.
The speeches were judged on the basis of points awarded for content, organisation and delivery, with the overall winner being the contestant with the best cumulative ranking.
Stella’s winning presentation was followed by Ella as runner-up and Nathan and Caleb finishing equal third.
The contest is held annually and this year was organized by college teachers Craig Jack and Ann Botha in conjunction with Rotary’s youth committee member Nicholls.
It commemorates former long-serving Rotarian and past-president Hanlon’s contribution to the community and to education.
Howick Rotary president-elect Pascoe says, “The contest is one of the highlights of the Rotary year particularly in relation to the many youth support projects that the club undertakes and it is really pleasing to see the confidence that these young people demonstrate in presenting their speeches”.
The awards for the night included gift vouchers from Paper Plus in Howick, with the winner also receiving the Brian Hanlon Trophy.
Katie Treneman, owner of Paper Plus, says she was “really happy to support Rotary in their efforts to encourage the development of young people in the community”.
Pascoe concluded the evening saying, “The Brian Hanlon Speech Awards is one of the many different community projects Rotarians are involved in while having a great social time together.”
If anyone is interested in becoming a member, they are asked to contact membership director Ian Fox on 021 662 896 or email ian@fox.co.nz or visit the web site www.howickrotary.org.nz.
