Rotary Club of PlimmertonBy Tyla Cade (aged 11)
Posted: 2 December 2013
On 28th November 2013, I came over to Wellington to stay with my Grandmother, Wendy Betteridge. I was delighted to hear that the next day I would be able to watch the finals of the Parumoana Speech Competition and that my Grandmother was to be the Chief Judge.
Sara Jenner from Discovery School was the organiser of the competition. She found the venue for the speech finals. She also co-ordinated the schools. She was the teacher in charge and helped to make sure everything went as planned. She was also the MC. She did an amazing job and made sure that everything was perfect.
David Knight’s role in the competition was to support Mrs Jenner on behalf of the Rotary Club of Plimmerton and to organise the judges and sponsor the prizes.
Heaps of people came to hear the speeches in the Aotea College Library. All of the students performed beautifully and I thought that they were all winners. They all gave talented speeches and they inspired me lots.
Altogether, nine schools and seventeen children from years 5 to 8 participated in the competition. All of the children had already competed in their own school competitions and had won, so it was all of the winners competing. The competition was held at Aotea College over about 2 hours. The three judges were Velma Knight, Carol Dring and Wendy Betteridge. I thought the judges had to make difficult decisions because all of the students spoke very well.
The speech subjects ranged from Barbie dolls, Shakespeare, poverty, fame, bullying, sporting greats, shark fin soup, wanting a dog, disabilities and soccer all the way to oranges. All of the children put a lot of effort in to their speeches, searching the internet and taking advice. They were all very passionate and they were all enthusiastic and very well prepared
The first place for years 5 and 6 was awarded to Isabella Barber from St Theresa’s whose speech was about Malala Yousafzai. I found out later that she’s the granddaughter of one of the Plimmerton Rotarians, John Barber.
Second place was awarded to Josh Platt from Plimmerton, who gave a speech about sporting greats. Third place was awarded to Molly Tuohy from Paremata, whose speech was about oranges.
First place for years 7 and 8 was awarded to Jasmine Rangi from Papakowhai School, who did her speech about Shakespeare. Second place was awarded to Katie Bailey from Discovery School, who did her speech on ‘evil’ children’s icons. Third Place was awarded to Maggie Booker from Plimmerton, who spoke about branding and the zombie economy.
Ron Lucas, President of the Rotary Club of Plimmerton, spoke while the judges decided who had won prizes. He said it was the first time he had ever been to the speech contest and he felt proud. He thanked David Knight for organising the competition and spoke about his passion and 
the Rotarians’ passion. He said that the students spoke beautifully, no matter how nervous, that they did it very well and that they were well prepared.
Afterwards he shook hands with every student and gave them a certificate to congratulate them. They all got a photo taken with President Ron before going back to their seats to find out what the judges’ decisions had been.
In summing up, Chief Judge Wendy Betteridge congratulated all contestants for not only their choices of subject and the way in which they had designed their speeches, but also for their excellent delivery. She said that if there were any helpful comments she could make, they would be to suggest that everyone slowed down their delivery and made sure they articulated every word clearly.
The contest concluded with the presentation of the trophies by President Ron Lucas. In addition to their trophies both Isabella Barber and Jasmine Rangi were also presented with cups to take back to their schools.
When I return to my family in Sydney next week I will have some amazing things to tell them about how I was lucky enough to watch an event that I will never forget.