Fifth grade students on the Bolles Lower School Ponte Vedra Beach Campus participated in a speech competition this week to practice public speaking skills in front of their peers – and a panel of judges.

Students researched and gathered material for their speeches and have been practicing them in front of their peers and families during the past few weeks. On March 30, each student took a turn approaching the lectern in George Hall with their rehearsed presentations. Judges considered many factors when assessing the speeches, including volume, speed, speech construction and audience engagement. This year also included the new challenge of timing facemask removal and replacement, a required protocol for public presentation during pandemic times.

Students did a remarkable job talking about topics that were of interest to them personally. After much deliberation, the judges selected the following students for their presentations:

• First Place, Sky Wagner ’28, “Bunnies Are Hard to Take Care Of”
• Second Place, Will Zebroski ’28, “K9s for Warriors”
• Third Place, Lilybeth Posick ’28, “Everyone Has a Gift”

Ponte Vedra Beach Campus Head Stacey Hendershot and middle school speech and debate coach and teacher Bob Hutchings, in addition to fifth grade teachers Jeni Strain and Kaki Movsovitz, supported students in the audience.

Congratulations to all the Bolles Lower School Ponte Vedra Beach Campus fifth graders!