BAYSPEAK, is a new Rotary Brighton Youth initiative. This innovative public speaking competition for Bayside High Schools sets out to boost the self-confidence and communication skills of students at all levels. The finalists amply demonstrated its success.
Dodging yet another lockdown, the final round of ‘Bayspeak,’ Rotary’s public speaking competition for secondary school students, was held at the Royal Brighton Yacht Club on Tuesday, 3rd August 2021. The repeated delays in getting to the final round did not diminish the enthusiasm of the participants or the high standard of their presentations. The event was chaired by Julie Avery, President of Rotary Brighton.
Five schools competed in the final round: Brighton Secondary College, St Leonard’s College, Star of the Sea College, Firbank Grammar School and Mentone Girls’ Grammar School. The successful finalist from the Junior competition (Years 7 – 9) was Anastasia Zaytseva (Brighton Secondary College) and runner-up Nathan Stanford (Brighton Secondary College). In the Senior competition (Years 10 – 12) the successful finalist was Mia Eng (Firbank Grammar School) and runner-up Caitlin O’Sullivan (St Leonard’s College). The winners received cash prizes of $400 each and the runners-up received $100 each. Brighton Secondary College and Firbank Grammar School were awarded the inaugural school trophies which they will hold until the competition is held again in 2022. The prizes were presented by Robert Ward, Immediate Past President of Rotary Brighton.
The competition was expertly adjudicated by Bayside Toastmasters, whose President, Janet Gray, congratulated the successful speakers on the passion and well thought-out arguments displayed in their presentations. All the competing speakers had given their best and should be proud of their achievement. Overcoming a fear of public speaking and being able to communicate clearly and strongly are skills that are of lifelong value.
‘Bayspeak,’ modelled on ‘Wynspeak’ (Rotary Hoppers Crossing), was organised by the Rotary Clubs of Brighton, Brighton North and Sandringham with support from District 9800 Foundation. The competition also received generous sponsorship from the Bendigo Bank, Church Street, Brighton.
Article provided by: Geoff Dobbs, Rotary Brighton North.