ALEXANDER COUNTY, NC (March 5, 2020) — The Alexander County Soil and Water Conservation District held its annual county public speaking contest on February 25. Students prepared a 4-6 minute speech focusing on this year’s theme, “Wetlands are Wonderful.”
This contest is open to all 7th and 8th grade students in the county. Each school can submit their top two speeches for both 7th and 8th grades to compete in the county-level competition. Each school winner will receive $20 at the awards banquet to be held on April 28 at McLindon’s Restaurant. In addition, the first-place county winners will receive $30, and the second-place county runner-ups will receive $15.
Lawson Setzer was named the 7th grade county winner, with Ella Mitchell coming in second place. Both students attend East Alexander Middle School. Blair Mitchell of West Alexander Middle School earned third place, and McKayla Harrison received Honorable Mention.
In the 8th grade competition, Callie Iversen from West Alexander Middle School received first place for the county.
The county first-place winners will advance on to the area level Soil and Water Conservation District competition, representing Alexander County against 12 other counties. The area competition will be held at the CVCC Alexander Center for Education on March 19. If the students win at the area contest, they will then advance to the state competition.
Pamela Bowman, Education Coordinator for the Alexander County Soil and Water Conservation District, offered her appreciation to the teachers who encouraged their students to participate in the competition and devoted their time to making this contest possible. This year’s participating teachers were Allen Price and Jody Frye from West Alexander Middle School and Jason Erkman from East Alexander Middle School. Bowman also expressed her appreciation to Mel Hager, Randy Willis, and Kathy Bunton for serving as judges this year.
The Soil and Water Conservation District sponsors these type of contests for the purpose of educating local youth about the environment.
To learn more about Soil and Water Conservation contests or programs, please contact Pamela Bowman at 828-632-0638.