Six students advance to national public speaking finals 

By Admin. Updated 5:36 p.m., Friday, October 2, 2026, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4). 

Six secondary school students have earned places in the final of the 2026 Lions Club St. Vincent South/FLOW National Secondary Schools Public Speaking Competition after emerging from four days of preliminary contests involving schools from across St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The finalists were selected following four preliminary rounds held at the UWI Global Campus in Kingstown between September 29 and October 2. Eighteen secondary schools took part in this year’s competition.

The students advancing to the national final are:

• Jinya Pemberton – St. Vincent Girls’ High School
• Jolisha Bailey – St. Joseph Convent Marriaqua
• Tishon Ollivierre – St. Vincent Grammar School
• Rachel Mitchell – Canouan Secondary School
• Vonté Horne – Emmanuel High School Mesopotamia
• Diandra Shepherd – Thomas Saunders Secondary School

The championship round is scheduled for Thursday, October 22, at the Methodist Church Hall in Kingstown. The event is expected to begin at 7 p.m.

Ahead of the finals, the six students, accompanied by a teacher from their respective schools, will meet on Tuesday, October 6, at 1:30 p.m. in the Computec Conference Room. During that session, organisers will provide the competition topic, brief contestants on the format of the final and determine the order in which they will speak.

The annual competition is being staged by the Lions Club St. Vincent South in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and is sponsored by telecommunications provider FLOW.

Finalists will compete for the Lion Michael De Freitas Challenge Trophy as well as other prizes.

The Lions Club St. Vincent South, an affiliate of Lions Clubs International, has served communities across St. Vincent for 48 years. Its service area stretches from Calliaqua to Fancy, with programmes focusing on cancer awareness, diabetes, vision care, environmental and climate action, hunger and homelessness, and youth and sustainable empowerment.

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