Local young people speak out

These pupils displayed their impressive public speaking talents to the judging panel as they competed for a place at the Regional Final.

The aim of this competition is to encourage environmental awareness among young people by providing them with an opportunity to research and debate environmental issues.

There were two entry categories of Junior (P6 and P7 pupils) and Senior (Year 8 to Year 10 pupils) with this year’s themes being: “A day in the life of a Waste Super Hero” and “Food glorious food, why waste it?”

Lisburn City Council’s Waste Management Section organised the Lisburn heat, which took place in the Studio Theatre at Lagan Valley Island.

The pupils who entered the competition were assessed on their topics by a judging panel of Council representatives.

Councillor Luke Poots, Vice-Chair of the Council’s Environmental Services Committee, speaking at the local event, said: “I would like to congratulate all those pupils who took part and thank them for a job well done.

“I am sure that both parents and teachers enjoyed hearing the presentations as much as the judges did on the day. Public speaking is never an easy task and as one of the judges, I experienced the quality of the presentations first-hand and each pupil had researched their topic well.

“It is very fitting that in the last year of Lisburn City Council running a local heat the standard of presentation was the highest to date; and the perfect end to this competition as we know it.

“I loved the way that in the Junior Section, some of the pupils took the approach of being a super hero, complete with costumes and props, while others believed you did not need to be a super hero to manage your waste sustainably.

“It was also great to see more duet entries in the Senior Section, which made it a very tight competition.

“To identify the winners in each of the two age categories took the judging panel a while to deliberate.

“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the heat winner Josh Kamalarajah of Riverdale Primary School in the Junior Section, and Ryan Beckett and Scott Boomer of Friends School in the Senior Section.

“On behalf of Lisburn City Council, I wish them every success in the regional final on March 10.”