28 earn their way to Geneva Speech Meet finals
BOERNE — More than 160 students competed in the Geneva School of Boerne Grammar School Speech Meet this year, with 28 advancing to the finals. The Speech Meet features students in first through fifth grades choosing either a selection from scripture or poetry to present at the competition.
Students memorize their selected piece and present in preliminary rounds.
Fifteen students in each category (scripture and poetry) advance to the Speech Meet Finals where they present it before a panel of judges, their Grammar School peers, teachers and parents. Students are awarded either a first, second or third place medal for their efforts.
“At Geneva, our ‘Portrait of a Graduate,’ among other aims is a graduate who can ‘present engagingly articulate and winsome arguments,’” Jessica Gombert, Grammar School headmaster, said.
“In Grammar School, we train students to become orators who speak with confidence and boldness, in front of their classmates and large audiences,” Gombert said.
The Speech Meet competition is an avenue for students to hone their memorization and communication skills. Logic School builds on this through the Eighth Grade Oratory Contest and culminates in Rhetoric School with seniors presenting a thesis which is a 20-minute oral presentation followed by a 20-minute defense as they answer questions by three panelists.
This year, more than 160 students competed in the Grammar School Speech Meet and 28 advanced to the finals.
