Manitoulin Island students capture top honours in public speaking

Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Mike Mantha congratulates public speaking winners from Manitoulin Island, from left, David Scott of Central Manitoulin Public School, Patrick Smulders of Manitoulin Secondary School and Owen Duncanson of Central Manitoulin Public School.

Three students from Manitoulin Island schools will compete in the Royal Canadian Legion Area Public Speaking Competition in Sturgeon Falls on Sunday, April 22, 2012. To qualify for the event, the students placed first at Branch (Little Current), Zone (Sudbury) and District H (Sault Ste. Marie) competitions.

The Manitoulin speakers won three of the four divisions in the District H event held on Saturday, March 31, 2012. District H includes Wawa, Sault Ste. Marie, Espanola, Manitoulin, Sudbury, North Bay and Parry Sound.

At the area event, they will compete against winners from District K, which includes Timmins, New Liskeard, Kirkland Lake, Hearst and Kapuskasing. Northern Ontario winners will advance to the Provincial Public Speaking Finals in Niagara Falls in May.

Grade 3 student Owen Duncanson of Central Manitoulin Public School tries to persuade his parents to get him a dog by providing them with arguments to support his case in his speech “Why a Boy Needs a Dog”.

Grade 8 student David Scott of Central Manitoulin Public School uses humour to talk about how food poisoning works and how to avoid it in his speech “Good Food Gone Bad”.

Grade 12 student Patrick Smulders of Manitoulin Secondary School uses a dialogue of a "day in the life of an average teenager" to demonstrate the effects of lying versus being honest in his speech entitled “Honesty”.

Rainbow District School Board Chair Doreen Dewar congratulated the students on their outstanding achievement. “We extend our best wishes to Owen, David and Patrick as they advance to the next level of competition,” she said. “We are certainly very proud of our Manitoulin Island ambassadors for Rainbow Schools.”

-30-

Media Contact:

Nicole Charette, Senior Advisor,

Corporate Communications and Strategic Planning,

Rainbow District School Board, 705-674-3171, ext. 7217.