On Monday, March 11, the Swainsboro Rotary Club met at the Rustic Grill for the noon meeting. The club sponsored a speech competition that included students from all three high schools in the county. This competition was founded in 1997 by Dublin Rotarian and Past District Governor, Preston Johnson, and is an opportunity for the development of future leaders. The object is that students will learn to prepare a speech and also gain valuable experience presenting in front of an audience. Speeches were limited to three to four minutes and students had points deducted if they were less than or over this time limit.
The winner was Caleb Long, and 2nd place was Quintus Williams, both from Swainsboro High School. The club gave a cash prize of $1,000 to the winner and $500 to second place. Long and Williams will compete in the zone competition March 30, at the Baldwin County High School Theatre. Other students participating were Clay Lawrence, 9th grader at ECI; Nataleigh Belcher, 11th grader at ECI; Ben Bennett, Senior at DEA; and Peyton Michael Lee, Junior at DEA.
