BATTLE MOUNTAIN - Eleanor Lemaire Elementary School (ELES) held their annual speech contest on April 5 for the fifth-grade students. The school's gymnasium was filled with those eager to see who would be the winner of this year's contest.
According to Elaine Domagala, one of the three fifth-grade teachers at ELES, she started having her students compile speeches approximately 10 years ago. She said she felt like it was important to teach her students how to write a speech, beginning the process by picking a topic, researching the topic, preparing an outline, reviewing the outline and information to be used in speech, making a rough draft, constructing the speech, rehearsing the speech and finally, presenting their speech to an audience. After all, writing a great speech is only half the battle, learning how to deliver your speech is equally important.
Domagala stated that about three years ago the other fifth-grade teachers joined in and also began having their students write speeches. The students in Sally Knight, Anita Smith and Domagala's classes take part in an annual speech contest held at the school. This year they were given the topic of "Best Invention of the last 100 years" to compile their speeches about.
The students took part in contests in their home-room classes throughout the preceding week. The top five winners from each of the classes then moved on to the final speech contest that was held on April 5.
Last year's winner, Keetna Smith was one of the judges. She said this was the first time she had judged any type of contest.
"I hope they all do a really good job!" said Smith.
Battle Mountain Junior High School teacher Carrie Jo Stewart was also a judge. She said, "I am just so glad that they are doing speeches because speaking and listening are part of the new common core standards, and it helps make the students more comfortable in public settings and teaches them confidence."
Battle Mountain High School senior Bria Jones and ELES teacher and Watch Dog Dave Fuller completed the judging panel.
The students' speeches were judged on introduction, history, importance and conclusion. The judges also took into consideration content and delivery.
Julia Ramirez was named the winner for the 2012 ELES speech contest. The top five winners included Ramirez (first place), Drue Domagala, Jillian Bisiaux, Ryan Manning and Danny Diaz.
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