The Dos Palos Lions Club Speech Contest is back—with a vengeance.
Once a very popular contest in Dos Palos, it was brought back this year after a long hiatus. It allows high school students to not only hone their writing and speech skills, but also to win some scholarship money.
At the recent contest held at the Scout Hut, Lions members and their guests were treated to some first-class work, as six Dos Palos High School students prepared and spoke on the subject, “AI—Friend or Foe.”
Frank Lemos, a local Lions Club member who organized the event along with Norman Clark, was astounded by the number of students who signed up to participate.
“I was extremely impressed that we had this many participants,” Lemos said. “I was anticipating no more than two, so to have this many students involved was great.”
The six students were seniors Kylie Hurd and Iris Garcia, along with juniors Emmanuel Murtalla, Mara Torres, Casandra Sy, and Jordan Jasso.
Lemos also credited the cooperation of Dos Palos High School for making the event successful, and specifically school counselors Lucia Lopez and Susan Foster.
“Lucia and Susan did a phenomenal job of recruiting the students and working with them to get ready for the contest,” Lemos explained. “The cooperation we received from the high school was great.”
The students did a stellar job of speaking on the subject matter, and as Lemos explained, “It was good from start to finish.”
It was also great to see the high level of work put forth by the six students.
“There is always a fear of public speaking, especially from the post-pandemic days,” Lemos said. “I think that we have lost some of that talent, but these students put in a monumental effort. It’s great to see the high school putting out fine products like this.”
A panel of three people judged the contest, and Garcia was chosen as the winner. She will now move on to the Zone competition where she will go against students from schools such as Chowchilla, Le Grand, Planada and Gustine.
