Clarkstown North Sweeps Public Speaking Competition
By Gianna Maltbie, Around the Horn Editor (2024)
On November 20, Clarkstown North’s public speakers took the Rockland County Forensic League Public Speaking Competition by storm, with nine speakers making it to finals and eight placing in the top three in the five different categories offered. We are so proud of these students for coming out on top.
Image Courtesy of Clarkstown North Homepage
Original Oration:
In this category, students were tasked with writing and memorizing their own 4-6 minute speech following the theme, “Why not?” Speakers included Hibba Fatima and Abigail Koshy who placed second and first, respectively.
Image of Abigail Koshy, Junior
Image Courtesy of Abigail Koshy, Junior
Dramatic Monologue:
This category involved students memorizing a monologue from a published play or movie and utilizing their bodies and words to create an impactful message. The students in this category were Gianna Maltbie and Rio Kamali who placed second and third, respectively. While Gianna performed a piece from the play “Proof” by David Auburn, Rio performed America Ferrera's monologue from the movie “Barbie”.
Image of Rio Kamali
Image Courtesy of Abigail Koshy, Junior
Image of Gianna Maltbie
Image Courtesy of Abigail Koshy, Junior
Prose:
This category involved students selecting and reading an excerpt from a piece of literature. Medha Mahesh and Fiona Brennan, performed their pieces in finals, with Medha taking home third place and Fiona winning first with her piece, “Death by Scrabble.”
Image of Fiona Brennan
Image Courtesy of Abigail Koshy, Junior
Image of Medha Mahesh
Image Courtesy of Abigail Koshy, Junior
Poetry:
The students who performed in this category, Lana DeLeon and Aanya Sharma, carefully selected pieces to carefully craft and convey the messages and tone of the poems. Lana DeLeon took third place, despite only being a sophomore.
Image of Lana DeLeon
Image Courtesy of Abigail Koshy, Junior
Image of Aanya Sharma
Image Courtesy of Abigail Koshy, Junior
Image of Emma Zadrima
Image Courtesy of Abigail Koshy, Junior
Impromptu:
Individuals competing in this category are given a quote and only a minute to come up with a coherent speech about the given topic as it relates to their personal life, history, and all aspects of life. Students Andrew Jaynes and Emma Zadrima participated in this category, with Emma Zadrima winning second place.
We are so proud of all the students who participated and worked so hard in this competition. I, for one, can’t wait to see what comes next, with no participating students graduating this year.