中文
HOME
HOME / LATEST NEWS / Content

Grades 7-8: English Speech Competition

May 7, 2019

May 5th is the day we, young teens who have barely scratched the surface of the world, realized the importance and seriousness of global awareness. We interacted with dire issues and historic events that were gradually erased in the faded memories of their victims. That afternoon, middle school students eagerly gathered in the auditorium to listen to the select speeches presented by the 7th and 8th graders in the English speech competition.

Consumerism, a core fixture that forms the basis of today’s society, was discussed by multiple speakers. Eunice talked about how overconsumption could devastate the environment, warning us of the severity of this global issue. Some speakers also recalled problems that have occurred in the United States. Melody Wu showed the side-effects of social media on teens and talked about how one trivial video on YouTube could kill an innocent teenage girl. Miranda, on the other hand, criticized America’s broken criminal justice system. One statement that shook the audience was “…mass incarceration has not only drained the economy of the US, but it has also threatened the health of inmates and will crucially impact the rest of their lives,” which shows the dire situation in the US.

The speeches from the 8th graders further emphasized the severity of global problems. Crystal revealed the shocking system of the Ku Klux Klan, and their discrimination of groups such as Jews, Homosexuals, African Americans, etc. Kitty brought up the Armenian Genocide that occurred in 1914, which was a massacre that caused 1.5 million deaths, while Mike discussed the appalling topic of gun violence. Students stared at the historic data shown on the screen, petrified by what they saw.

The competition ended with great success. All the speakers did a tremendous amount of research for their presentations, and the audience were informed about a wide range of global issues happening around them.

（Written by 7(7) Alyna Tang Pictures by Ginger Supervised by Ou Xiaoxi, Ms. Skallerud）