Speech honours go to Taipa school

CLEAN SWEEP: Taipa Area School's Quinn Moffatt (right), winner of the 2015 Lions Young Ambassador speech competition, with runnerup Te Hau Ariki Toi Gardiner and judge and sponsor Dennis Corbett.

The honours went to Taipa Area School when a very impressive field of five contested the 2015 Lions Young Ambassador speech competition in Okaihau last week.

The winner was Taipa Area School's Quinn Moffatt, from fellow Taipa contender Te Hau Ariki Toi Gardiner. Third was Taylor Adkins (Okaihau College), fourth Kauwiti Selwyn (Northland College) and fifth Gabrielle Harris (Northland College).

Quinn collected $1000 for his wining effort, and will contest the upper North Island final in Auckland next month. Second and third placings were worth $300 and $200 respectively.

CLEAN SWEEP: Taipa Area School's Quinn Moffatt (right), winner of the 2015 Lions Young Ambassador speech competition, with runnerup Te Hau Ariki Toi Gardiner and judge and sponsor Dennis Corbett.

The speeches were the highlight of a function in the Okaihau Hall, where every seat was taken by representatives of the supporting Lions clubs (Opononi, Kaikohe, Mangonui, Kerikeri, Waitangi, Okaihau and Waipapa), guests including Mayor John Carter and members of the wider community.

The five-minute speeches were the finalists' last chance to impress judges Kate Carr (president, Okaihau Lions), Ohaeawai Primary School principal Lee Whitelaw and Bay of Islands Realty owner Dennis Corbett. Their performances were worth a maximum of 40 points, with 30 points apiece for their CVs and 10-minute interviews, which were completed earlier.

Mrs Carr said the judges had been looking for community involvement, while inspiring youth of this age to talk to anyone, let alone to stand up in front of a packed room, could be a challenge, but all five had proven themselves to be very talented and capable.

Mr Corbett said it had been a pleasure to meet "such wonderful new leaders."

"They're truly passionate about giving back to the community. Their energy and enthusiasm is rubbing off on other young people," he said.

While Quinn's speech was not as good as some of the others, he had scored well in the interview, and had "unquestionably" presented the strongest CV. (He is a youth soccer coach, St John cadet leader and Far North Coastguard Radio volunteer).

The finalists chose a wide variety of subjects for their speeches. Te Hau Ariki pondered the value, and future, of te reo Maori; Taylor expounded on the challenges and rewards of leadership; Kauwiti included bursts of song when he spoke of sharing one's talents to bring pleasure and opportunities to others; Gabrielle argued the need for young people to have a champion, an adult who will not give up on them; and Quinn addressed the perils of technology, including the "misconception" that young people understand it.

The prizes were sponsored by Bay of Islands Realty and Waimamaku Automotive Solutions.