Debating and Public Speaking have long traditions at the College with the well known Australians such as Sir William Deane and Chief Justice Murray Gleeson showing their strengths in this area for Joeys and more recently the likes of Chris Mangan and many others who have represented Australia at the highest level.
Tonight, Jarrad McAuliffe (Cherrybrook) continued this tradition by winning the Catholic Schools Debating Association (CSDA) Public Speaking Competition.
To help put this wonderful achievement in perspective, it is worth knowing that there are over 92 schools participating in this competition with one representative from each Sydney Catholic high school in each age group.
The competition starts at the “local” level before winners then move to the “zone” stage. Having won both of these, Jarrad then went onto the finals which were held at St Ignatius College, where he competed against the winners from the 11 other zones.
The boys chose their speech topic from a pool of six options. Jarrad chose “The Price of Freedom”. In explaining what he spoke about Jarrad said “My speech was firstly about school from a child’s perspective before I then burrowed into issues such as gun laws. I then finished with a story about a soldier and a member of the Taliban and comparing their lives”.
It goes without saying that Jarrad’s victory is an incredible achievement and after his success was announced he was presented with the Catenians’ Shield.
Congratulations to Jarrad on his success and for continuing the impressive tradition that the College has in both Public Speaking and Debating. In many respects, by nature of the timing and often wide variety of venues, combined with the modest nature of our boys, the efforts of our public speakers are sometimes not noticed by all. Indeed though, the commitment and positive contribution of the boys is greatly appreciated and this is a very deserved victory for Jarrad and all our boys who represent us in this pursuit.
Photo: Jarrad McAuliffe (Cherrybrook) is presented with the Catenians’ shield after winning the CSDA Public Speaking Competition.