More than 80 students took part in the fourth Annual Bermuda Public Speaking and Debate Tournament at Saltus Grammar School last month.

The competition, which ran from February 17-20 was organised by Mrs Christianna Dakin with help from Miss Freya Crofton, Mrs Aisling Foote, Mrs Susan Behrens, Mrs Jennifer Burland-Adams and Mrs Berta Barreto-Hogan. Judges from all over the island were awed by the high standard of competition and skill demonstrated by the students.

RESULTS

Overall Top Speaker awards for Public Speaking

• Middle School: 1st Themika Thennakoon (Saltus), 2nd William Tanglao (Saltus), and 3rd Athena Marsh (BHS)

• Senior School: 1st Megan Sutcliffe (BHS), Kayla Dowling (Saltus) and 3rd Hannah Marshall (BHS).

Individual awards for each of the Public Speaking categories:

• Middle School: Impromptu — 1st Linnea Kuravilla (BHS) and 2nd Sabree Bothello (BHS); After Dinner — 1st Linnea Kuravilla (BHS) and 2nd Sabree Bothello (BHS); Persuasive — 1st William Tanglao (Saltus) and 2nd Themika Thennakoon (Saltus); Interpretative Reading — 1st Sam Webel (Saltus) and 2nd Themika Thennakoon (Saltus); Radio Newscast — 1st Haley O’Donnell (BHS) and 2nd Sam Webel (Saltus)

• Senior School: Impromptu — 1st Kayla Dowling (Saltus) and 2nd Zachary Myers (Warwick Academy); After Dinner — 1st Ava Mayer (BHS) and 2nd Nicole Kansakar (Saltus); Persuasive — 1st Hannah Marshall (Warwick Academy) and 2nd Brian Wedlich (Warwick Academy); Interpretative Reading — 1st Megan Sutcliffe (BHS) and 2nd Kayla Dowling (Saltus); Dramatic Interpretation — 1st Zachary Myers (Warwick Academy) and 2nd Hannah Marshall (Warwick Academy); Radio Newscast — 1st Megan Sutcliffe (BHS).

The debating component of the tournament was held on Saturday, February 20, and had similarly pleasing results with judges commenting again on the high calibre of the debaters they witnessed.

The schools that participated on Saturday included: Bermuda High School for Girls, Mount Saint Agnes Academy, Saltus Grammar School, Somersfield Academy, Warwick Academy and The Whitney Institute. Students enthusiastically completed three rounds of debate on Saturday, including an impromptu round in the afternoon, which required students to debate the topic, “This house believes single use plastic bags should be banned.”

The overall winning teams for the Middle School Debate Tournament were Saltus Grammar School B team (X’Achaela Robinson, Lucas Falick, Ywione Darrell) in first place and Bermuda High School A team (Cree Dunn, Sophia Marsh, Kristy Sanchez) in second place. In the Senior Division, the winning team was Bermuda High School’s A team (Megan Sutcliffe, William Campbell, Joshua Kirk) and in second place Bermuda High School’s B team (Ashleigh Tompkins, Lillian Griffiths, Tyler Smith).

Overall Top Individual Speaker:

• Middle School — 1st Lucas Falick (Saltus), 2nd Ashley Horseman (MSA), 3rd Aisling Homan (Somersfield), 4th William Tanglao (Saltus) and 5TH Robert Thomas (Whitney)

• Senior School — 1st Tyler Smith (BHS), 2nd Megan Sutcliffe, 3rd Kayla Dowling (Saltus), 4th William Campbell (BHS) and 5th Zachary Myers (Warwick Academy).

William Tanglao, an 11-year-old participant in both the debating and public speaking, said, “Debate and public speaking have been a lot of hard work and effort, but it was worth it in the end. I had a great time and I learnt a lot.”