02 Mar 2018
Pressure's on. Can you give 2X 2 minute impromptu speech in response to unseen questions while 40 people are watching you immediately followed up by a 5 minute prepared speech.
Four of our Corowa's students capably demonstrated our school expectation of ‘achieve' by capably taking on this challenge at the Lions Club. Prior to this, Chloe Waterson-Huggins, John Schnelle, David Strachan and Hayley Cordwell had been rigorously interviewed by a panel of three.
David impressed us all with his ability to communicate his passion about technology and his desire to create a new operating system. He talked about learning computer code as just learning a language so that you can instruct computers on what to do. Careful crafting of key ideas and his focused ambition led to clear communication of his ambition and ideas.
The speeches were diverse and reflected both the personality and interests of each participant. We heard about firefighting, scientific advances, the trials and tribulations of writing a speech and a light hearted view on challenges of being left handed. However, Hayley's speech while humorous had a deeper message about inclusivity. She challenged all of us to think about minority groups, including left-handers and how we may unintentionally create difficulties if we view things through a single lens of our own experiences.
What impressed me most about this event was our students willingness to push themselves into a situation where they potentially felt uncomfortable yet were willing to take on the challenge. The emotional struggles of doing this is most often observed by parents who were there enthusiastically support their children. Thanks also to their teachers who came along on the night to add their support.
If you get a moment, take the time to ask Chloe, John, David and Hayley what they think they learned from this experience and consider how you might challenge yourself in the next few weeks so that you can achieve.
Congratulations to David Strachan on taking out the title of the Lions Youth of the Year award.
Ruth Winfield
Relieving Principal