JEDDAH, 14 June 2004 — The Sri Lanka International School in Jeddah has organized its first Gavel club to provide a public speaking forum for its students.
Inaugurated during a banquet session on June 3, the club was the result of a series of workshops held under a Youth Leadership Program conducted by the school in cooperation with the Tanglaw Toastmasters Club of Jeddah.
School principal S.A. Rahuman said 23 students completed the 8-session workshop, with senior members of Tanglaw Toastmasters serving as resource persons.
During the banquet session, the students displayed what skills they have learned from their workshops in the presence of school officials, parents and members of various toastmasters clubs.
As part of the session, four of the students delivered prepared speeches, each of which were evaluated by other students. A table topics session and a round robin session followed, with participants being called to express their thoughts at the spur of the moment.
Nipun Jayamaha was adjudged best prepared speaker for his “Time Management” speech, Naeem Anis was named best evaluator, while Parmida Rajakanthan won the best table topics award.
Sri Lankan Consul General A.M.J. Sadiq, the chief guest, was so impressed that he encouraged the school to continue with the program to “strengthen the character and personality of young people in their quest to succeed in life.”
In his keynote speech, Joey Villanueva, the outgoing governor of the Toastmasters’ Jeddah Area Council, observed that the students he saw performing in the banquet session were much different from those he saw during the first workshop. “They have shown great improvement and confidence, noticeably overcoming their fear of public speaking compared to previous workshops,” said Villanueva, who himself used to be shy in public speaking until he joined the Toastmasters.
Willy Araza, Tanglaw’s immediate past president, said the Youth Leadership Program was a brainchild of Zowfir Zaheed, an official of Tanglaw, who was also the project coordinator.