John Willoughby
reporter2@greenepublishing.com
Three Madison County students are moving forward to district competition in May after winning their local county Tropicana Speech finale on Thursday, Jan. 23.
Proud mothers, fathers, grandparents, family and friends filed into the Madison County Extension Office where 12 students presented their award-winning speeches to a judging panel consisting of Madison County educator Willene Herring, Madison County Coordinator Brian Kauffman and Madison County High School Media Specialist Susanne Griffin.
For over 50 years, the Tropicana Speech Competition has given students across the State of Florida experience in the preparation and delivery of a speech. Taught by classroom teachers and incorporated into an established teacher lesson plan, the contest begins with classroom competitions where top speakers from each class advance to a county-wide contest.
The Tropicana Speech Competition offers students this opportunity annually and teaches them to be better communicators – a skill which will benefit them throughout their life.
Contestants from the fourth grade included Trent Rosenberg, Pinetta Elementary School (PES); Avery Brown, Lee Elementary School (LES); Riley Thacker, Greenville Elementary School (GES); Riley Sheffield, Madison Creative Arts Academy (MCAA); and Jarrett Pickels, Madison County Central School (MCCS).
Fifth grade students vying for their chance to move forward to district competition were La'Brayaa Johnson, MCCS; Layla Peavey, MCAA; Garrett English, LES; Zakoria Bryant, GES; and Daniel O'Quinn, PES.
Sixth graders Mya Mason, MCAA; and MCCS student Samaya Baynard were also in attendance at the competition.
Following the speeches and some entertaining stories from Madison County 4-H Extension Agent Beth Moore, who hosted the event, it was time to crown the top champions. In the fourth grade division, Riley Sheffield was the winner with his speech on "Moving." Taking second place was Riley Thacker, who wrote her speech about her mother, who is "A Strong Woman!" Third place went to Jarrett Pickels, who detailed the actions taken by Madison hero Capt. Colin P. Kelly Jr. Avery Brown took home honorable mention for her speech on the "Ups and Downs of Having Animals." Honorable mention also went to Trent Rosenberg, whose speech was on exploring an abandoned town.
In the fifth grade division, Layla Peavey was awarded first place for her speech on why no one should kill spiders. Second place went to Zakoria Bryant, who discussed her role as captain on the GES Flag Team. Garrett English took home third place for his speech on his school bus breaking down and honorable mention went to La'Brayaa Johnson for her speech, titled "Here We Go Again." Daniel O'Quinn and his speech, "Why We Should Kill Roaches," won honorable mention as well.
Samaya Baynard, who spoke about living in a house full of guys, was the first-place winner in the sixth-grade division. Mya Mason, whose speech was on the three levels of fright, received second place!
Sheffield, Peavey and Baynard will advance to the district competition in May, which will take place in Bell, Fla. The three first-place winners were also awarded a full scholarship to 4-H Camp Cherry Lake in June. Congratulations to all the participants and winners!