What do fire, the rock band Kiss, an old map of the world and a Minion animated movie character have in common? They were all used as inspiration for speeches delivered by students in The Armidale School’s Middle School inter-house public speaking competition on 12 August.
While some took their source material literally, others used lateral thinking to come up with a topic that may have seemed only vaguely associated with the random image they were given.
Students were given four days to prepare, with their four-to-six minute speeches delivered in front of all of Middle School’s Years 6-8 students. Fire was the source material for Tim Cimino representing Croft House; a pile of books for Jacob Fernandez from Broughton House, Archie Graesser of Abbott House had an image of Kiss, Henry O’Neil for Green House had a map of the world, Tyrell House’s Josh Jones had a Minion, and an image of a mask was the inspiration for Heath Chandler, representing Ross.
After a close contest, Tim Cimino was declared the winner with an address that focused on the dichotomy of fire as both a life giver and destroyer.
“Fire us used for heating, lighting, and most importantly, candles on birthday cakes. However it can also be a force of destruction, such as the Black Friday tragedy of 1939 in Victoria, when 71 people died in one of the worst natural bushfires in the past few centuries,” he said.
“But with no fire, there is no sun, no light, no life.”
Adjudicator Mark Harrison, Head of Middle School, praised the students for their delivery, anunciation and content.
The senior school competition will be held later this month.
Tim Cimino won the Middle School Public Speaking competition on 12 August.
