Students participated in a speech contest with the topic of distance learning pros and cons on March 10. Librarian Sarah Morgan was in charge of gathering students to take to the contest.

The speech contest is an annual event sponsored by the Lions Club International. “The purpose is to give young people a chance to practice their public speaking skills and get rewarded for it,” said Morgan.

Each participant earned a monetary participation prize with the winner earning both a cash prize and the chance to compete at the next level.

Junior Namratha Kasalanati participated in the contest. This year was Kasalanati’s 1st year participating in the Lion Club speech contest, but she participated in Academic Decathlon speeches for 3 years. “I really liked the prompt and how it asks us to address both sides of the issue,” Kasalanati said.

“Public speaking is fun for me, and when Ms. Morgan offered this opportunity in January, I jumped at the chance to participate,” said Kasalanati. “It is a really interesting experience, and it tells you something about yourself, that you can talk about a subject for an extended period of time.”

Kasalanati competed against 1 other student from Miramonte High School. The event took place at the Hacienda De Las Flores in Moraga. This year’s contest was held outdoors, with everyone required to wear a mask and stay socially distant. “Most of the audience members had received their vaccines so we felt pretty safe,” said Kasalanati.

Kasalanati placed 2nd at the contest. “I feel that my speech was well regarded by the judges and the audience.” said Kasalanati. Kasalanti speech was 8 minutes long and completely memorized.

“I was extremely proud of her performance and creative, statistics-filled speech.” said Morgan.

For those interested in learning about public speaking or participating in a contest in the future, contact Sarah Morgan for more information.