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Students from La Mare de Carteret secondary school triumphed last night at the annual Rotary Club of Guernsey Youth Speaks competition, sponsored by Mourant Ozannes.
Cameron Ashplant (speaker), Savannah Goddard (vote of thanks) Lauren Guille (chair) were voted the winners by the adjudication panel at the event held last night at St James. The winners will now take a place at the regional finals to be held in Southampton on 5 March.
In their talk, entitled 'Being Young is Overrated', the students described what it is to be a teenager in 2016 with an accurate and often humorous account of their daily struggles. But the presentation then took a darker, shocking turn when the talk turned to the mental health of young people, citing shocking statistics and case studies to illustrate the severity of the problems.
Mourant Ozannes' Guernsey managing partner Jessica Roland acted as an adjudicator on the night. She was overwhelmed by the standard of this year's speakers. She commented: "This year really was a triumph for the young people of Guernsey and I think I speak for everyone at St James when I say that it was one of the best years in the event's history.
"The winners were particularly impressive and all three participants were very strong. The well-structured presentation they delivered had listeners captivated, taking us on a real journey using humour and theatre, then shocking us with a change of tone and pace which really intensified the impact of the uncomfortable truths that they were highlighting. We wish them all the best in the regional finals, they are sure to do well," she added.
Simon Milsted from the Rotary Club is the local coordinator for the Youth Speaks competition. He commented: "The students this year were inspirational and I'd like to congratulate them all for their excellent presentations. It was evident that all teams taking part had spent weeks preparing and fine tuning their talks and their hard work really showed. We are delighted that the winners will represent the Island at the regional finals and look forward to supporting them through this next stage."
The La Mare de Carteret students were among five teams from Guernsey schools to take part in the competition last night. Blanchelande College, Elizabeth College and The Grammar School all entered teams in the competition.
