Caleb McCourse speaks on football at the Tropicana 4-H Contest. |
Steven Johns Ashly spoke about wolves. |
Tabitha Nagelsmith spoke on Germany. |
| All photos courtesy Charles Murphy, Okeechobee Times | ||
by Charles Murphy, staff reporter. Article adapted for the web courtesy of © 2005 Okeechobee Times - A publication of Big Lake Media, LLC.
Kids amaze with their public speaking ability. The Tropicana 4-H public speaking contest attracted a bunch of talented fourth, fifth, and sixth graders to the Okeechobee Community Theatre auditorium on May 2nd. Students this year spoke on a variety of topics; school violence, 4-H projects, football, diabetes, and obesity.
Dorothy “Dot’ Kinsaul, JoAnna Sherman and Dianne Spann
were the judges. They had a tough time as many of the
students showed excellent public speaking ability, better
than most adults in fact. The mistress of the ceremony
again this year was Pat McCoy, Principal of North Elementary
School. One of the last years winners, Leanna Cotton,
assisted her with the M.C duties.
4-H agent Debby Clements
welcomed the crowd and noted that for several years the
program has produced outstanding speakers. She added it is
very intimidating to speak, but that the young people
who take part are amazingly calm and confident. She said
many of the students gain excellent experiences through this
program and in many ways enhance their class room abilities.
Kaitlyn Knight of Central Elementary School hit home with her message about school violence. She said bullies at school are a problem. “You don’t solve problems by hitting someone. It’s more important to talk things out than resort to violence,” she said. Knight said if someone cut in front in line at school and refused to move, the best thing to do is contact a school official or an adult.
Brandon McKee, a student at North Elementary School, spoke
about his personal experience of swimming in the coral reefs
of the Florida Keys. He made it seem like the crowd was
there with him under the water.
Tabitha Nagelsmith, a
fourth grader at Everglades Elementary, took the crowd on a
trip to Germany in her speech. She spoke about Germany’s
history, it’s foods, it’s climate, and it’s favorite
sport. She added that German customs like Octoberfest are
now celebrated in the United States.
Steven Johns Ashley of Seminole Elementary School spoke on wolves. He noted that most wolves have a liter of four to six pups, and that female wolves reach maturity at age two. Male wolves reach maturity at age three. They also have only a short time on earth. The life span of wolves in the wild is only eight to nine years. Wolves in captivity actually live longer, up to 13 years. In a rather sad part of his story, he noted that wolves are killed each year by predators, starvation, diseases, and mostly by man. “There hasn’t been a report in North America of a wolf ever killing a person,” he added.
The youth of Okeechobee presented themselves with
confidence and maturity.
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