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Kootenay Air Cadets compete in effective speaking
On Saturday February 24, Air Cadets from around the Kootenays competed in the annual Effective Speaking competition.
The eight competing Air Cadets were from Cranbrook, Creston, Castlegar and Nelson. The competition was hosted by the Castlegar Air Cadets sponsor group.
Leading up to the competition, cadets have to write and learn how to deliver a five-minute prepared speech and practice short speeches on impromptu topics. Participating squadrons selected their top cadets to compete in the Regional Competition.
It takes a lot of courage for these young men and women to stand up and speak in front of others; not many people can.
For the competition, each of the cadets gave a five minute prepared speech and then an impromptu two minute speech.
From 552 Key City Squadron in Cranbrook, Flight Corporal Dhruv Jethwa and Corporal Orion Lancaster both talked about Canadian history. From 904 Kootenai Squadron in Creston, Corporal Andreas Kamp talked about âVolunteerism in our Community.â
581 Castlegar Squadron had three cadets in the competition. Sergeant Seth Whitehead talked about âThe Roles of Indigenous Peoples in Canadaâs History.â
Flight Sergeant John Colley talked about âLaughter, the best Medicineâ and Sergeant Deannah Kaiser talked about âCadet Life.â
561 Osprey Squadron from Nelson had two cadets. Flight Corporal Chia Minchin, who lives in Nakusp, talked about âVolunteerism in our Communityâ and Corporal Kai Thomson talked about âScience and Technology.â
All eight cadets gave the same two minute impromptu speech on âWhy does the Leaning Tower of Pisa lean?â
The judges for the competition were Chief Sam Lattanzio from the Castlegar Fire Department, Castlegar City Councillor Deb Macintosh, and Gerry Cartwright, Manager, Client Experience at CIBC in Nelson.
The competition winner will compete in the provincial competition in April in Richmond and the provincial winner will compete in the national competition in Prince Edward Island later in the spring.
The winner of the competition was Sergeant Seth Whitehead from Castlegar. Second place went to Corporal Kai Thomson from Nelson and third place went to Corporal Andreas Kamp from Creston.
The Cadet Program is open to all Canadian youth from the ages of 12 to 18 regardless of income, race, religion, culture or other socio-economic factors. The program embraces Canadaâs multiculturalism and offers young Canadians opportunities to interact with youth from other cultures.
The Cadet program is the largest youth program sponsored by the federal government and has over 53,000 participants from all provinces and territories.
Lead image:Â Andreas Kamp and Major DeBiasio. Photos submitted
Submitted by Captain Lori-Lee Bott, Unit Public Affairs Representative, Kootenay Zone, Canadian Armed Forces
