OLM, Ballico and Reyes Schools Earn Top Awards at Merced County Speech Festival

Winners of the 2024 Merced County Speech Festival were announced Thursday, April 18, at the awards ceremony, where students from Our Lady of Mercy School, Ballico Elementary and Reyes Elementary Schools earned first place honors in this year’s competition. 

The awards ceremony celebrated students who earned top honors during the four-day competition, which was held from April 8 to April 11, and invited family, friends and all students who participated. The top three winners of each grade level received trophies for their speechcraft and performance, while several more participants received honorable mentions. Representative Joyce Dale, who was in attendance, also presented certificates to students on behalf of Senator Ana Caballero.

Students who earned first place were invited to recite their award-winning speeches again for family, friends and audience members during the awards ceremony. 

Winning speeches were selected from each grade level by judges who evaluated students on speech structure, delivery, interpretation and overall presentation. Nearly 120 students from 19 schools participated in the annual competition.

The 2024 Merced County Speech Festival Award Winners: 

FIRST PLACE 
4th Grade: Essileyeh Kouadio, Our Lady of Mercy School, “Space Exploration
5th Grade: Mikel Moreno, Ballico Elementary School, “Healthy Eating”
6th Grade: Charity Evans, Reyes Elementary School, “Are We Equal?”
7th Grade: Owen Pedrozo, Our Lady of Mercy, “Pay Teachers More”
8th Grade: Dominic Urteaga, Our Lady of Mercy School, “Standardized Testing”

SECOND PLACE
4th Grade: Anna Rusu, Burbank Elementary School, “Do Sports”
5th Grade: Serafina Day, Our Lady of Mercy School, “Physical Education”
6th Grade: Akoumae Kouadio, Our Lady of Mercy School, “Music”
7th Grade: Isabella Perez, Our Lady of Mercy, “Outdoors”
8th Grade: Anisha Jain, Our Lady of Mercy, “Technology”

THIRD PLACE
4th Grade: Aliyah Reyes, Peggy Heller Elementary, “Dog Fable”
5th Grade: Diana Naserkhaki, Burbank Elementary School, “Fear”
6th Grade: Paloma Day, Our Lady of Mercy School, “Social Media Isolation”
7th Grade: Matyas Mejia-Guzman, Peggy Heller Elementary, “ADHD”
8th Grade: Lily Kibo, Ballico Elementary School, “Bullying”

The Merced County Speech Festival is part of a countywide program that starts at the school level, where each school can send up to three students per grade to represent their site. The competition is open to students in grades 4-8 across the county.