The Manning River Lions Club held their Youth of the Year celebration on Wednesday, 24 February.  This event was a celebration of young people’s academic, cultural, sporting and community involvement.  St Clare’s was represented by Edie Gillis, Patrick Guthridge and WenYuan LimSchneider; all of whom did magnificently!

 Back Row:  WenYuan LimSchneider, Mr Quentin Schneider & Mr Tim Masters
Front Row:  Patrick Guthridge, Edie Gillis, Mrs Carla Gillis, Mrs Jacinta Guthridge & Dr Brian Neale

For students, the night began with a twenty-minute interview, where a panel of judges spoke to students about how they contribute to our local community, and gained insight into how they saw the world and their own place in it.  This led into the formal dinner, where students from the area were greeted by the Lions Club.  The first public speaking portion of the evening got underway, as students were required to answer two impromptu questions, speaking on each topic for two minutes:

• What is the appeal of social media to teenagers?

(Our students responded by speaking of the advantages of communication, and the ability to find a sense of community and indulge interests beyond their immediate peers and geographic limitations).

• Evaluate the benefits of home schooling vs face to face learning.

(And, you wouldn’t believe it, none of our students spoke about their love of doing Shakespeare online, instead – recognising the academic and social benefits, not just to themselves, but the entire school community, of attending classes in person).

After a wonderfully prepared meal, served by the Chatham High School Hospitality team, the night moved to its climax, as the students took to the stage again for their prepared speeches – the platform allowed them to pick any topic of interest to them.

• Edie was a natural speaker who offered the benefits of cross-cultural exchange as a way of broadening her understanding of the world, while leading to a greater appreciation of her own country.
• WenYuan spoke about cows. As it turns out, cows are one of our own main polluters – but with an addition of seaweed to their diet – their emissions drop 90%!  The seaweed farms will also be a contributor to removing carbon from the oceans.
• Patrick spoke about the media – delightfully stringing together metaphors to describe greed and manipulation – taking aim at politicians, Facebook and Mr Murdoch.

From here, the tension built, as the judges retired to consider their verdicts.

Two awards were given out on the night:

Public Speaking Champion – Patrick Guthridge

Lions Youth of the Year (Manning River) – Patrick Guthridge

Although the night did not give out 2^nd or 3^rd prizes, I would be confident to say we cleaned up – and I’m unofficially announcing WenYuan and Edie jointly as runner up.

I will also announce myself a winner, I walked out of there with a box of chocolates!

Patrick now progresses to the next level of the competition, where he will compete against winners of other regions.  All the best to Patrick!

Tim Masters
Year 12 Student Coordinator