Twelve students from nine secondary schools competed in the State Final of the Rostrum Voice of Youth Speaking Competition for the opportunity to represent WA in the National Final at Parliament House in Sydney in July.  The event, held at the Boulevard Centre in Floreat on 27 June, was well-attended by teachers, fellow students, family and Rostrum members, and represented the culmination of months of preparation by the many students who competed in heats and semi-finals to earn a place in the final.

Rebekah-Anne Craggs from Corpus Christi College won the Senior section, after being runner-up in the competition in 2014.  Jeremy Hansen from Trinity College won the Junior section.  The runners-up were Dennis Nixon from Ursula Frayne Catholic College in the Senior section, and Ike Adesanya from Corpus Christi College in the Junior section.

The awards were presented by Rostrum WA President Luke Matthews who congratulated all the finalists and noted that tomorrow’s leaders will be better communicators.

Competition co-ordinator, Juliet Park, in thanking the many adjudicators and the two MCs, noted they’d all at one time been competitors in the Rostrum Voice of Youth Competition, and were still giving back to help the new crop of young speakers.

We wish Rebekah and Jeremy the best of luck in the National Final and hope they have a great time in Sydney.