January 26, 2007

Splendid Speakers

Evergreen District students shine at speech contest

By Carol Rosen
Staff Writer

It was a memorable evening for parents, administrators, and of course, this year’s 10 winners of Evergreen School District’s 26th annual Speech Contest Awards Ceremony. Obviously proud of their accomplishments, the fourth through eighth graders showed presence to the assembled crowd of parents, teachers and school and district administrators attending the event.

It was also memorable for the two women who conceived the idea and have carried it forward for the last 26 years – Robin Bailey, a district librarian for nine schools, and Leslye Lawler, an English teacher and assistant principal at Chaboya Middle School. This is Bailey’s last year because she will be retiring, but Lawler plans to continue the program next year with Lynn Gustaferro, a teacher and assistant principal at LeyVa Middle School.

Throughout the years, the contest has been especially beneficial to the students. For example, Claire Doan, who 10 years ago was an eighth grade winner from Chaboya, recently sent a letter and video to Bailey and Lawler telling them about her career. The student, who wanted to be a lawyer, went on to graduate from Silver Creek High as valedictorian, graduated with honors from UC Berkeley and earned a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University before working as an intern at CNN and at a PBS affiliate.

“Writing has become her passion,” Lawler said. Doan has become a correspondent at a Washington, D.C. station covering Congress with access to the White House. In the letter, she expressed her love of her work, of writing and thanked the two for helping her find her passion.

Nine of the 10 contest winners pose in a group shot in the Chaboya library prior to giving their speeches. All 10 won a $100 U.S. savings bond, a plaque and a certificate. Pictured, top row from the left are: Parisa Oveyssi, an eighth grader at Chaboya; Nhat-Dang Do, an eighth grader at Quimby Oak; Preethi Padmanaban, a seventh grader from Chaboya; and Sarah Shaffer, a fifth grader from Silver Oak. Seated from the left are: Megan Vonderach, a seventh grader from Quimby Oak; Priya Bhattacharjee, a sixth grader from Norwood Creek; Kevin Hong, a sixth grader from Millbrook; Karin Gandler, a fifth grader from Laurelwood and Katherine Le, a fourth grader from Matsumoto. Not pictured is Raquel Menchaca from Holly Oak. Photos by Carol Rosen

Lawler and Bailey start working on the contest in September, selecting this year’s subject, “My Proudest Moment,” before taking it to students in October.

This year about 7,800 students entered the contest. In December, that number was whittled down to 84 with the 10 winners selected during an evening contest on Jan. 17. That evening, judges from Bank of America, retired and current teachers as well as administrators and classified employees judged the speeches, picking the two best from each of the five grade levels.

During the contest, a number of Evergreen High students from the school’s Speech and Debate Club helped out. About 15 students coached the finalists at Quimby Oak and Chaboya and five of them helped set up the rooms for the final contest. Several of those students, Lawler said, already have asked to help out again next year.

This year’s winners are fourth graders Raquel Menchaca from Holly Oak and Katherine Le from Matsumoto; fifth graders Karin Gandler from Laurelwood and Sarah Shaffer from Silver Oak; sixth graders Kevin Hong from Millbrook and Priya Bhattachrjee from Norwood Creek; seventh graders Preethi Padmanaban from Chaboya and Megan Vonderach from Quimby Oak; and eighth graders Parisa Oveyssi from Chaboya and Nhat-Dang Do from Quimby Oak.

They spoke on subjects as varied as getting an A+ on a math test to swimming, from winning a book contest to wave boarding, from playing piano to skating, and from climbing a vertical waterfall to winning the presidency of the school student council. The students memorized their speeches and provided a presence beyond their years, adding hand gestures and the excitement or the tenacity necessary to achieve their own proudest moment.

Katherine Le, one of the two fourth grade winners, receives a bouquet of flowers from her brother after receiving her awards. The off-the-cuff gesture caught the audience off guard.

All of the winners received a $100 U.S. savings bond from Bank of America plus a plaque and a certificate. Bailey noted during the ceremony that the district asked the bank to help out 26 years ago and it has participated ever since. This year, Fatemeh Nazari-Malek, the branch manager from the Lunardi’s branch helped Bailey pass out the awards.

An interesting wrinkle to this year’s contest was fourth grader Raquel Menchaca from Holly Oak, who has only been in the United States for three years. Born in Mexico City, Raquel did not attend school until she moved here. According to her mom, Ericka Menchaca, Raquel taught herself at age 5 how to read and write in Spanish. Since arriving here, Raquel has not only learned to speak and read English, she talks like a native Californian.

Raquel Menchaca, center, has only been in the United States for three years but has managed to learn to read, write and speak English like a native. She’s pictured above with Holly Oak principal, Leila Welch, and her mother Ericka Menchaca.