Competition aside, six young women from Trigg County High School opened their hearts to the Cadiz Rotary Club Tuesday afternoon — sharing parts of their lives, how in tune they are with local needs, and their expectations for the future.
As part of the District 6710 Speech Competition, and under the guidance of Interact Counselor Mikayla Hopson, students Akia Kearney, Kyra Adams, Bailey Roberts, Henicey Hodge, Amree Brison and Charlstyn Heath had no more than eight minutes to connect with the audience through a theme of “Create Hope In The World.”
Kearney noted the “odds have been stacked against her” from the onset, and she has hopes of developing cures against the very things of which she ails. Born two months prematurely, she weighed less than two pounds after delivery, and each new sunrise and sunset is a gift.
Adams, meanwhile, referenced the fact that in the 2021-22 school year, more than 53% of Trigg County’s students were deemed “economically disadvantaged.” In this vein, she finds hope in The Way’s “Teen Clothes Closet,” which she added has seen an uptick in visitors and volunteers.
She also finds hope in her grandparents, who became caretakers after her parents fettered away their chance.
Roberts, who also serves as Wildcats Interact President, lauded the Rotary Club’s efforts in putting women closer to positions of leadership and success — especially as more and more women move toward business ownership.
She also said her time spent working with friends on the annual “Toys For Tots” project brought understanding not only of hope and its meaning — but a difficult reality check, as local children got to embrace Christmas comforts through met wants and needs.
Hodge painted a picture on how hope changes within oneself from youth to adulthood, and urged both forms are necessary.
As the lone senior, Brison turned her attentions to the foster care system — something, in her eyes, that needs sweeping reforms.
In the Trigg County school system, she said there are “at least two kids” in each grade that are fosters, and in order to promote hope and development, Child Protective Services and the Department for Community Based Services need to shift caseloads from 23-to-1, to 15-to-1.
Heath was deemed the winner over second-place Roberts and third-place Brison, highlighting the fact that Rotary “strives to take care of women and children alike, create peace within the hectic world in which we live in now, and fight for the education of those not as fortunate.”
She described that growing up in a Title I, highly-diverse but lower-income area means students constantly have to face adverse, uphill conditions in order to graduate and find good jobs or collegiate opportunities.
But she also pulled a hearty laugh from the crowd.
So moved, were the Rotarians, that for the first time, the club unanimously approved for all participants to receive a $50 check. Heath, Roberts and Brison move on to the next level of competition.
FULL SPEECHES:
Kearney:
Adams:
Roberts:
Hodge:
Brison:
Heath:
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