Wallingford students impress judges in Rotary speaking contest

As published in the Record Journal, Thursday January 24, 2013

By Eric Vo
Record-Journal staff
(203) 317-2235
evo@record-journal.com
Twitter: @ericvoRJ

WALLINGFORD - Seriousness and lightheartedness shared the spotlight Wednesday in the Il Monticello banquet hall as four high school students read their essays in the Rotary Club’s Four Way Speech Contest. In the end, a creative and humorous essay won.

Two students from Sheehan High School and two from Lyman Hall High School spoke. The speeches had to address the club’s Four-Way Test: “Of all the things we think, say and do: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?” The students were given five to seven minutes to deliver their speeches and were judged on their presentation.

Many Rotarians said they were excited about the program, including club President David Juliano, who said the club “looks at it as a major event.” The winner, Sheehan senior Elizabeth Capot, gave an animated speech about Twitter. She admitted that the popular online social networking site fails the Four-Way Test, but “despite this, it will continue to take over the oh-so-willing youth.”

Capot said the last thing on a person’s mind when he or she is tweeting is honesty. She went on to say that the site doesn’t build friendships because it allows a user “to see into someone’s mind 24/7,” which can lead to learning something about that person that one would rather not know.

The idea for her speech came to her when she realized she was constantly on Twitter.

“I was actually on Twitter when I was writing the speech,” Capot said. “I thought, ‘What would be better than to write about what I’m doing all the time?’ ” While her speech generated a lot of laughter, the subject matter of the other speeches was more serious. Lyman Hall senior Breana Tolla, who placed second, told the audience how valuable her experience as a mentor to special education students had been.

“The lessons I learned from them are far more valuable than what I taught them,” she said.

The first speaker, Lyman Hall senior Lexi Farkash, described the qualities that make for a good teacher and how “teachers you have can make all the difference.”

The final speaker, Sheehan senior Julia Eldridge, spoke of the need for gun law reform so people can ultimately feel safer.

“There’s no reason for 16 mass shootings in the past year,” she said. “There’s no reason for 88 deaths, 20 of them children.”

Capot will move on to the district finals at Fairfield University. Rotary Club members said the students should all feel proud of their performances.

“I was impressed,” program Chairwoman Patty Dyer said. “This was the best year. The students were engaging and did a great job presenting.”