The top speakers from Medomak Valley High Schools Philbrook Speech Competition, held April 15. From left: Kaia Flaherty, honorable mention; C.J. Pluecker, second place; Kelsey Payson, third place; Cole Bruno, first place; Elisah Stanton, honorable mention; and Gavin White, honorable mention. (Photo courtesy Lisa Genthner Gunn)
On the morning of April 15, Medomak Valley High School held its annual Philbrook Speech Competition, an event that highlights and rewards students who have taken a position on a topic, supported it with research, and urged their audience to a call to action.
This year’s competition of 27 students, coordinated by the English language arts department, started many years ago with a bequest of money from the Philbrook family, but has continued in recent years because of another generous bequest from a local family who chooses to remain anonymous.
Three judges from the community — Willy Ulbrich, Susan Campagna, and Sam Pennington —spent the morning scoring student speeches of 3-5 minutes in length.
Top speakers receive $500 for first place; $300 for second place; and $200 for third place. This year’s winning speeches were by Cole Bruno, who came in first place with a speech on the topic of radical forgiveness; C.J. Pluecker, second place, felon voting rights; and Kelsey Payson, third place, the impact of social media.
Three students were also recognized by the judges to receive honorable mentions: Elisah Stanton, for a speech about using excise tax for schools; Kaia Flaherty, who spoke on the impact of domestic abuse; and Gavin White, whose speech was about the power of saying “no.”
The English language arts department congratulates all speakers on setting the bar high for themselves through their hard work and commitment to continue this very worthwhile tradition.
