More than 200 students from nine school districts gathered with prepared speeches in hand at North Surrey Secondary, each student ready to compete for top honours at the annual Surrey School District Secondary Invitational Speech Meet.

The students from Surrey, Delta, Vancouver, Burnaby, North Vancouver, Richmond, Coquitlam, Maple Ridge and Abbotsford competed in three categories: Grade 8, Junior (Grade 9-10) and Senior (Grade 11-12).

Surrey students fared well in the competition, taking seven of nine potential medals. Besides a medal, the top three seniors also each received a $250 scholarship from Central City shopping mall.

The top senior Surrey student, Sumanyu Sharma, also received the Wayne Houston Memorial Award and an additional $300 cash prize donated by the mother of Wayne Houston, a teacher at White Rock Junior (now Semiahmoo Secondary) who first started the speech meet.

The top students who made it to the final round faced four distinguished judges: George Garrett, community leader, retired CKNW reporter and trustee of the Jack Webster Foundation; Allan Cusworth, distinguished toastmaster and member of Cloverdale’s Good News Toastmasters Club; Linda Hepner, City of Surrey councillor; and Jamie Taras, B.C. Lions speaker and business coach.

And the winners are:

• Winners Senior Speaker
  1st Place: Greg von Euw - District: SD41 - School: Burnaby Mountain
  2nd Place: Sumanyu Sharma - District: SD36 - School: North Surrey
  3rd Place: Michael Zhois - District: SD36 - School: Semiahmoo

• Winners Junior Speaker
  1st Place: Rida Jamal - District: SD36 - School: Tamanawis
  2nd Place: Kathy Wang - District: SD36 - School: Semiahmoo
  3rd Place: Parveen Sarana - District: SD36 - School: LA Matheson

• Winners Grade 8 Speaker
  1st Place: Shervin Vansef-Zadeh - District: SD36 - School: Fraser Heights Secondary
  2nd Place: Chantal Lim Valencia - District: SD36 - School: Fraser Heights Secondary
  3rd Place: Selin Jessa - District: SD43 - School: Maple Creek Secondary
  Honorable Mention:
  Julian Burns, District: SD 42, School: Westview Secondary
  Rajan Mander, District: SD 36, School: North Surrey Secondary

Last Updated: May 5, 2009

Senior Speaker Winners (left to right) - Greg von Euw (1st) , Sumanyu Sharma (2nd), Michael Zhois (3rd)

Junior Speaker Winners (left to right) - Rida Jamal (1st), Kathy Wang (2nd), Parveen Sarana (3rd)

Wayne Houston Memorial Award winner as the top Surrey senior student, Sumanyu Sharma (left), with Surrey Board of Education chairperson Laurae McNally