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A newsletter for the students, faculty and staff of the Collin College. Published monthly. For information or submissions, call 972.599.3142. Cougar News welcomes student and faculty submissions. Next deadline: April 10 All submissions are due by 5 p.m. on the due date. Photos cannot be returned. Text should be emailed to mrobinson@ccccd.edu or sent on disk. Please submit copy that is proofed, edited and saved in Word format. Cougar News staff: Lisa Vasquez, director; Mark Robinson, editor; Marcy Cadena-Smith, contributor; Dana Schmitz, contributor; Sydney Portilla-Diggs, campus correspondent; Stephanie Hall, student correspondent; Nick Young, photographer and layout.
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Phi Theta Kappa sponsors 'I Have a Dream' speech competition
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| The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. "I Have a Dream" speech competitors were (back row, from left) Michael Salimitari, Angela Putman and Bianca Baidoo; (front row, from left) Matthew Lagos, Jonathan Carey, Rebecca Sweat, Lucie Moorer, Laura Perdamo and Cameron Smith. |
By Stephanie Hall
Student Correspondent
Seven students expressed their visions of the future during the inaugural Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “I Have a Dream” speech competition sponsored by Phi Theta Kappa.
The students competed for first, second and third place prizes of $450, $200 and $100 transferable scholarships. The competition was held Feb. 27 at the Spring Creek Campus.
Each contestant had to answer the question, “If Dr. King were alive today, what would his future be?” In the spirit of King’s poetic and energetic personality, they had to then write a speech filled with symbolism and present their speech on stage in front of their fellow students and a five-person judging panel. The speakers were judged on their speech and speech presentation.
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| Contest winner Rebecca Sweat with Angela Putman, Phi Theta Kappa advisor. | “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was not only an amazing public speaker, but one of the most influential civil rights activists of our time, and I think it's great that students took his famous 'I Have a Dream' speech and updated it to reflect some of the issues in our society today,” said Professor Angela Putman, the advisor for Collin’s Phi Theta Kappa chapter. “It shows that our students are cognizant of what's going on around them and are willing to stand up and speak their minds.”
Theater students Michael Salimitari and Bianca Baidoo acted as emcees and kept the audience entertained with stories and humor in between speeches while the judges were tallying scores. The judges consisted of faculty and staff including Jenny Warren, Lynda Gates, Barbara Money and Juanita Austin, as well as one student Candi Dodd.
When the votes came back, the winners were announced: First place -- Rebecca Sweat; second place -- Christopher Pham; and third place -- Matthew Lagos.
Honorable mentions included Cameron Smith, Jonathan Carey, Lucie Moorer and Laura Perdomo.
“I feel this event was incredibly successful for being a first annual event,” said Putman. “We had more than 50 people in the audience and seven students who entered the contest."
Click here to read Sweat's speech.
[PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION]
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