Local students compete in Rialto Lions Club annual speech contest

On Wednesday, Feb, 21, 2018, the Rialto Host Lions Club hosted their annual club level Student Speakers Contest at the Knights of Columbus facility in Colton.

Carroll Ann Zacher, Chairperson of the event for the Rialto Host Lions Club, explained that a maximum of eight high school students are invited to participate in the public speaking contest each year.  Five students from the local area high schools came to offer their presentations on this year’s topic “Integrity and Civility Play What Role in Today’s Society?”

Judging the contest were Sharon Hanki, a teacher in the Rialto Unified School District, Nancy Luther and Kristiana Shirley of the Cultural Homestay International Association.  The judges had ten specific speaking points with the attributes of an excellent presentation and granted points to each speaker based on those specific guidelines.

The Lions Club statement regarding the purpose of the Student Speakers Contest is “the contest provides an opportunity for competitive public speaking among high school students on a subject of vital interest to the contestants and to the American people as a whole.”

Students participating from local high schools presented speeches that were required to be between five and 10 minutes long.  At the end of the evening presentations, Rialto High School student Kenny Hua was declared the winner and took home $100 along with the opportunity to speak again in the next level.

Each of the other students, Tim Solomon (Eisenhower High School), Katelyn Miller (Carter High School), Cassandra Muniz-Ramos (Carter High School), Hannah Seng (Rialto High School) and Liliana Rojas (Rialto High School) were each awarded a $25 prize for their participation.

There are several levels of participation in the contest, and at each level the winning speaker can be awarded up to $20,000 in cash prizes and scholarship monies if they continue to win through the state level in the competition.

The next level of the contest, the zone level, will be held at Mimi’s Café in Fontana on Monday, March 12, 2018 and winners of local club contests will come together as a ‘zone’ level to see who will walk away with the prize and the ability to compete in the next regional level.

“These events are always amazing to see,” said Zacher, “it’s so fascinating to hear these young men and women speak and learn about their thought processes and opinions on these topics.  This is the Lions Club 81^st year with the Student Speaking Contest and it’s always a new learning experience every year for all us.  The students gain confidence and poise in public speaking, and the judges and others hearing the speeches have their lives changed as we listen and learn from the generations of students that pass through our yearly contests.”

You can contact Rialto Host Lions Club through their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/tkmccracken/.