(Media release from Floyd County Schools, GA):
Ellia McClain, a sixth-grade student at Armuchee Elementary School, has won the 2023 Floyd County Schools (FCS) Gifted Oratorical Contest. The oratorical event was started in 2009 to allow gifted students to display their academic skills and connect with other students. The 2023 contest was the 14th annual competition and used the speech theme “Discovering Optimism in Me”.
Gifted students competed at the school level to represent their school and advance to the system contest. The top two school qualifiers from each middle grades school participated in the system contest. The contest was coordinated by FCS middle grades district ELA coach Lindsay Norton. The contest was judged by FCS math coach Courtney Clark, FCS ESOL coordinator Dr. Jennifer Pendergrass, and FCS science coach Latasha Lampkin. The contestants were scored on poise, speech content, delivery, and overall effectiveness. The speech could be no more than five minutes.
The winners of the contest were:
Armuchee Elementary
First place: Ellia McClain, sixth-grade
Second place: Libby Lively, fifth-grade
Coosa Middle
First place: Aubrey Murray, fifth-grade
Second place: Ruby Hamilton, sixth-grade
Model Middle
First place: Jace Atchley, fifth-grade
Second place: Annalise Jessie, seventh-grade
Pepperell Middle
First place: Jonny Croghan, fifth-grade
Second place: Broghan Walker, fifth-grade
Overall Winners
First place: Ellia McClain, sixth-grade, Armuchee Elementary
Second place: Jonny Croghan, fifth-grade, Pepperell Middle
Third place: Aubrey Murray, fifth-grade, Coosa Middle
View images from the awards ceremony HERE.
Pictured left to right: Aubrey Murray, Ellia McClain, Dr. Glenn White, and Jonny Croghan