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Wednesday, February 14, 2007 · Page 15 Students impress judges with word power BY DANIEL SCHWAB It's a common fear. It causes knees to shake, palms to sweat and voices to fail. But for 14 brave youngsters, public speaking wasn't a problem during the South Area Semi-Final Oral Communications Festival at Maplewood Public School last week. With clear voices and eyes forward, students of 14 local schools spoke for three to five minutes on the topic of their choice ­ from confronting blonde stereotypes to the advantages of having imaginary friends. Judge Marly Cartigny, a teacher at former Maplewood, said students would be evaluated on their enunciation, emotion, enthusiasm, content and voice projection. A good speech, Cartigny explained, appeals to a diverse audience. "You never know who's going to be in your audience," Cartigny said. "If it's not interesting, they might just tune you out." Keeping the audience's attention was no problem for Erika Chadwick of Jack Miner Public School in Kingsville. She was chosen as the top speaker for her composition about blue jeans. For his speech about eBay, Maplewood's Cody Virag earned second place. Shelby Davison of Gore Hill Public School took home the third place for her speech on bullying. The event was the first of four regional competitions, and Chadwick will soon square off against other regional winners. Red Raider News BY JAY FAWLER SPECIAL TO THE FREE PRESS The Senior Girls' Volleyball team extended their unbeaten streak to 27 with wins over Holy Names and St. Joseph last week. "The girls are hard workers and that's what it's going to take to go all the way," Assistant Coach Kyle Williamson said. The girls will face their toughest test to date on Thursday when they face the second place Brennan Cardinals. The Junior Girls' Volleyball team came that much closer to a .500 record on Thursday, defeating St. Joseph three games straight with scores of 25-16, 25-17 and 25-13. Their record now stands at 13-14. The Raider Wrestling team failed to capture the WECSSAA team title for the first time in four years on Friday. "It hurts being four points away from a four-year team title streak," said senior wrestler Sam Driedger. Driedger had to withdraw from his match against teammate Derek Salden due to illness. The Riverside Rebels, who hosted the tournament, were crowned WECSSAA boys' team champions with a combined 51 points. Essex was a close second with 47 points, followed by L'Essor with 41. The Senior Boys' Basketball team couldn't hold on to a 14-point lead early and were defeated by South Area Semi-Final Oral Communications Festival winners proudly display their awards at Maplewood Public School last week. From left, 2nd place winner Cody Virag, first place winner Erika Chadwick and 3rd place winner Shelby Davison. Holy Name Hawk Happenings Holy Name Student Council launched a very successful and energetic Read-A-Thon kick-off on Thursday, Feb. 8. To the tune of the old Harry Belafonte song, " Jump in the Line, " the Student Council reps dressed in tropical gear, encouraged the students to "Jump in the line" and read for this year's 2nd Annual Jump N' ReadA-Thon. The Read-A-Thon date is Friday, March 2. All pledge forms are due Feb. 26 and all monies are due to the school Monday, March 5. To encourage the students to raise money this year, the following incentives have been put in place: If students raise.... $5,000 - VP Mrs. Casalena will take part in an Extreme Make-over $7,500 ­ Father Larry the Rapper will return $9,000 - Mr. Urban will shave off his moustache $10,500 - Mr. McLeod will shave his head! $12,000 - Staff Sumo Wrestling Match $15,000 - Top 10 Pledges will get to throw a cream pie at Mr. Lozinsky! To find out how much the students raised, we will have to wait until after March Break for the big prize assembly day, Wednesday, March 21. Holy Name Student Council reps dressed in tropical gear last Thursday to kick off the 2nd Annual Jump N' Read-A-Thon. St. Joseph 76-61 Thursday. "We couldn't put a complete game together," said senior forward Kyle Flood. "Everything seemed to be going wrong in the second half, too many turnovers." The boys started the game hot, leading 11-2, but that lead quickly deteriorated because of costly turnovers in their own end. Jeremy Butler had 20 points and Kevin Ellsworth added 14 points and 5 steals. The boys will head to Brennan on Thursday to battle the Cardinals. The Boys' Hockey team outscored their opponents 11-0 last week with wins over Herman and Holy Names. The boys easily defeated Herman 7-0. Derek Vivier had two goals, while Spencer Woltz, Spencer McDowell, Jordan Brohman, and Jordan Miller each added one. The shutout went to Josh Charles. Their game on Thursday was no different, as Essex defeated Holy Names 4-0. The Raiders faced a scary moment when forward Jordan Miller was knocked unconscious and had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher. Goalie Chris Zelko earned the shutout. The Raiders finished the regular season strong with these victories and now find themselves second in the points standings, trailing only Belle River. Pictured here are two of the students who proudly represented Holy Name Elementary School in the Substance Abuse Poster Contest ­ both receiving certificates and medals for their outstanding work! Call 776-4268 ADVERTISE! IT PAYS TO Sun Parlor Grade One and Special Education students recently participated in Fire Safety interactive learning activities at Children's Safety Village of Windsor and Essex County. Essex Fire Department, volunteers and co-op students assisted students in learning the specific fire safety procedures in the home in case of a fire. The students also learned how to be safe and prevent fires in their homes.