Rutherglen High School Annual Public Speaking Competition - Another Year of High Calibre Participants Wednesday 9th December was a big day for the finalists of Rutherglen High School's Annual Public Speaking Competition.  Held at the Golf Club & hosted by Rotary, the audience assembled for an early dinner before being entertained by the 5 junior (years 7 to 8) & 2 senior (years 9 to 10) competitors.  Gail Nancarrow, their English Teacher, together with family & friends, School Principle Phil Rogers & past Principle Lance Sullivan looked on with pride as the students gave flawless renditions of their chosen subject.  These included hilarious speeches by Roger Jones on "Why Dogs are Better Than Cats", Becky Wheeler on "Why Xmas is A Bad Influence on Kids" & Alex Mould, a Chiltern resident, who gave a brave speech about Rutherglen being one of the worst places on Earth!  Shae Talbot, last year's senior's winner, spoke about homelessness in Australia, & in particular, Albury & surrounding areas, whilst junior entrant Kirsty Deacon talked about why junk food is so bad for you. The speeches were judged on content, organisation & delivery.  Timing was also a consideration since the students were allowed 3 minutes for each presentation.  Competition was stiff & the adjudicators, Pam Maden & Ted Shanks, both retired school teachers, took quite some time deliberating the winners. Ted commented on how all the students had such great speaking voices & that it was a close call to decide the winners.  Emma Stirland won the junior category with her rendition of "Why Parents Just Don't Get It", whilst Ryan Griffinn, who talked about why waiting for the future is under-rated, took out the senior's category.  Both winners will now go on to give their speeches at the end of year School Presentation evening. Ryan Emma