Keimar Williams of the Republic Bank Marketing and Communications Department (c) with semi-finalists from the second session of RightStart Speech Contest Prelims including from left: Adenike Watts, Hindsbury; Amariah Brathwaite, Hindsbury; Azariah Lowe-Parris, Lawrence T Gay; Darren King, Lawrence T. Gay; Brandon Byer-Maloney, Gordon Walters; and Tishani Jordan of Christ Church Girls’ School.
Semi-finalists from the morning session of Preliminaries in the 2017 Republic Bank RightStart Speech Contest are from left: Leyna Dixon, St. Joseph Primary; Eleanna Barrow, St. Albans; Darren Miller, Ignatius Byer; Chloe Hinds, The Rock Christian; Nakira Leacock, St. Albans; and Lashauntea Sobers, St. Joseph.
Republic Bank RightStart Speech contestants impress
Primary school students in the 2017 Republic Bank RightStart Speech contest have set the bar high and demonstrated that the future of effective public speaking in Barbados is in safe hands.
This assessment comes from Distinguished Toastmasters on the judging panel, following the selection of twelve semi-finalists to go forward to the semi-final stage of the contest from preliminaries held this week at the Sir Hugh Springer, Auditorium, Solidarity House.
Eight primary schools will be represented in the semi-final scheduled for June 10, at the Queens Park Steel Shed, with four of the eight having each gained two semi-final places. Those four are Hindsbury Primary represented by Adenike Watts and Amariah Brathwaite; Lawrence T. Gay with Azariah Lowe-Parris and Darren King; St. Albans Primary have Elianna Barrow and Nakira Leacock; and St. Joseph Primary with the duo of Leyna Dixon and Lashauntea Sobers. The remaining four semi-finalists are Darren King from Ignatius Byer Primary; Tishani Jordan of Christ Church Girls’; Brandon Byer-Maloney representing Gordon Walters Primary; and Chloe Hinds of The Rock Christian Primary School.
Chief Judge Angela Ramsay said the standard of competition overall was very high, with impressive speech delivery from competitors who spoke from their hearts and heads, rather than overly relying on their notes.
“Today’s speakers were really energised, you were confident, and you showed excellent organisation and research with supporting material. The topics were relevant, and though they were some big topics, I thought you handled them well,” Ramsay said.
Also commenting on the high standard of the competition, Distinguished Toastmaster, Maureen Reid encouraged the students, including those who did not make the semi-finals, to continue speaking and participating in competition. She also lauded Republic Bank for staging the annual Contest which she noted was all for the benefit of the students.
Other primary schools represented at the preliminaries included Bay Primary; Grantley Prescod; All Saints; Mount Tabor; St. Bartholomew; Hindsbury; St. Stephen’s; Charles F. Broome; Blackman and Gollop; and Wesbury.
The Republic Bank RightStart speech contest aims to assist students with the development of language skills, speech delivery and general confidence building.