Another win for the Grammar School

Fifteen-year-old St Vincent Grammar School student Utamu Rose gained the judges’ nod and took the top spot in the 2011 Lions Club South LIME Secondary Schools’ Public Speaking competition.{{more}}

The St Vincent Grammar School was defending the title and Rose was at his very best, winning the main topic and the impromptu speech categories to regain the Senator Arthur Connell Challenge trophy. The Finals took place at the Methodist Church Hall last Thursday, October 20, to a packed hall, and was aired live during prime time on SVGTV, and on two radio stations, WeFM and Nice Radio.

Rose’s journey to the Final started when he spoke on the topic “The role and influence of the church is diminising in our society” in Zone One of the preliminary round on Tuesday, October 4, at the Peace Memorial Hall. The Final was keenly contested, with representatives from three other zonal competitions.

Contesting the finals were Aleisha Primus, Dr. J.P. Eustace Memorial; Kaela Barrett, St Vincent Girls’ High School; Shiwani Cupid, North Union Secondary; Shariel Bowman, Mountain View Adventist Academy, and Ackeisha Strough, George Stephens Sr. Secondary School. The preliminary rounds saw students speaking in the main and impromptu topic segments. However, the six finalists had to speak in three rounds, with the student prepared topic being added. The topic for the Final was “The death of compassion is a frightening reality in St Vincent and the Grenadines.”

During an interview, the fifth form Science student thanked, among others, his parents, and in particular his mother, teachers and friends for helping to prepare him for the competition. His impromptu topic was dedicated to his mother whom he cited as his role model.

“I wanted to win badly since my school was defending the title. The last few weeks were very stressful for me as I was under immense pressure, since I wanted the trophy to return to Grammar School. I didn’t want to disappoint my teachers, friends and the entire student body since they entrusted me with the responsibility of representing them. This was an enormous responsibility and I am happy that I won the competition,” said the relieved and elated resident of Green Hill. Utamu won a “FLIPtop” laptop and one year’s FREE 8MB internet service from the telecommunications giant LIME.

In second place was St Vincent Girls’ High School student Kaela Barrett. Barrett won the student prepared topic with “Alcohol abuse among teenagers”. She humorously chided some of our soca artistes who encourage our young ones to use alcohol. The beer, alcohol and television stations came in for some “stick” for advertising scantily clad females drinking alcohol in adverts during prime time viewing.

She commented: “I feel very proud of my performance, but I am a bit disappointed that I didn’t come out on top. All the students represented their schools very well, and congratulations to Utamu. I will also like to thank all the supporters, teachers and fellow students of the GHS for their support.” Kaela won a “FLIPtop” laptop and nine months FREE 8 MB internet service from LIME.

Third place winner was Mountain View Adventist Academy student Shariel Bowman. Shariel also won a “FLIPtop” laptop and six months FREE 8MB internet service from LIME.

The other contestants all received a “FLIPtop” laptop for reaching the Finals.

General Manager Leslie Jack gave his maiden address at the 28th anniversary of LIME (previously Cable and Wireless) sponsorship of this prestigious competition. Jack pronounced that LIME will protect this sponsorship for a long time since it is firmly placed in the company’s sponsorship calendar. He named a cadre of firsts that LIME could boast about but opined that we must be number one for service excellence.

“As the only full service provider, we have extended our reach beyond the provision of a full suite of telecommunications products and services by supporting education, tourism, sports, culture, health and welfare. It is time we move a step further to touch the hearts and lives of our people, an action that will echo and embrace the sentiments of our nation to live a life of compassion.

Over the next few months and years to come, when you think of LIME you will think of two things, nation building and the organization with the service excellence culture,” said Jack.

This year’s participation was much improved from last year, with eighteen of the nation’s twenty- four secondary schools coming on board.