Deanna Alvarado wins local competition in Lions Club Student Speakers Contest

Deanna Alvarado a California City High School student, has taken the first step toward winning scholarships for college by winning a local competition sponsored by the California City Host Lions Club.

Alvarado's speech was among more than five contestants in the annual California Lions Student Speakers Club Contest. Multiple District Four California Lions Clubs International is sponsoring the program to emphasize the importance of public speaking as a critically important life skill to young people everywhere.

The speech was selected by Tawney Sparks, Ron Sparks and Kim Welling for its originality, main points being supported by evidence, conclusion, emphasis, voice control enunciation, pronunciation, sincerity, enthusiasm, poise, cohesive effort, logic, organization, speaker persuasiveness and adhering to the topic, "Freedom of the Press: What Does It Mean?" The judging was held on Feb. 6 at Robert P. Ulrich School.

California City Host Lions Club President Jennifer Wood said she was impressed by the expression and creativity of the students.

"It is obvious that these young people have strong ideas about current events. I'm so proud that we were able to provide them with the opportunity to share their views and skill."

Alvarado will advance through the district levels to compete at the multiple district state level of the competition if she is to accrue scholarships worth $10,000," Wood said.

The contestants can win various amounts of scholarships along the way to the final contest.

"Our club is proudly promoting Deanna as she advances in the competition, and we hope that her self expression and independent thinking inspires the public's perspective on this topic," Wood said.

Other students who competed are Katherine Gama, Julia Rivera, Kaitlyn Rowell, Shannon Scott and Quinn Guzman.

View more inspiring stories at http://www.md4lions.org. Lions Clubs International is the world's largest service club organization with more than 1.35 million members in 210 countries and geographical areas around the world. Since 1918, Lions clubs have aided the blind and visually impaired and made a strong commitment to community service and serving youth throughout the world.