Chad Greaves is Public Speaking champion

Backed by a robust team of supporters from his school and church, Chad Greaves, a fifth form student of the St. Vincent Grammar School, gained the nod of the Judges to become the 2007 Secondary School Public Speaking champion.{{more}}

Sixteen-year-old Greaves, a born-again Christian, dominated two of the three categories to out-speak the five other competitors in the four hour long event.

After winning the competition, Greaves expressed gratitude for the support he received from friends and family members,

and described the experience as an energy-draining one.

The students spoke on the set topic: “The high cost of air transportation in the region works against CSME”, which Greaves dominated; he also won the prepared speech with the topic “The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).”

Fifteen-year-old Shamala Hercules, a student of the Bequia Seventh Day Adventist Secondary School, was judged the winner of the impromptu category, speaking on the topic “Alarm Clock”.

Hercules’ domination of that subject pushed her in the second position behind Greaves, with the third place going to Caswell Smart of the North Union Secondary School.

This year’s competition, which took place at the Methodist Church Hall, was deemed by the judges to be one of the most keenly contested in years, which made their task of picking a winner a difficult one.

The event this year saw an added feature, with members of the audience invited to take part in an impromptu competition, and this proved as entertaining and thought stirring as the actual competition itself.

Event sponsor Cable & Wireless at the beginning of the night’s proceedings reaffirmed their commitment to the competition, which they have been sponsoring from its inception.

The students walked away with a number of prizes from the sponsor, with grand prize-winner Greaves taking home a new computer and one year’s free Internet.

Meanwhile, Chad has also been recognised for his performance by St. Hill Insurance Company Limited, with which he has been closely associated over the past four years. In 2003, Chad was the recipient of a Bursary from the company, which sees him receiving assistance of $500 each term to off-set his educational expenses. JJ)