Interschool public speaking stars present at council meeting

Expressing bold ideas in front of a crowd is no easy feat, but five students did just that at the most recent City of Karratha council meeting.

Leading on from the Karratha Public Speaking Tournament, adjudicator Cr Brenton Johannsen was so impressed by the calibre of public speaking that he invited students to present their fresh perspective and creative ideas for improving the liveability of Karratha to the council.

Students delivered passionate speeches with their own unique style, ranging from ideas on how to make Karratha safer to the need for a frozen yoghurt shop to combat the Pilbara heat, or opening a BOUNCEinc trampoline park to create more fun for young people.

The title of champion speaker was awarded to Mia Botha from St Paul’s Primary School, who spoke about what leadership meant to her.

“Being a good leader means helping people grow and helping people find what they’re good at,” Mia said.

Alby Marmion from Pegs Creek Primary School delivered a convincing argument about why Karratha needs a frozen yoghurt shop.

“A yoghurt shop would be a great place to hang out, especially when it’s so hot,” Alby said.

“In class we were brainstorming ideas about things that Karratha needs for kids and teenagers, we thought of a water park and a few other things, but I thought we needed a yoghurt shop the most.”

Indi Garstone from Saint Paul’s Primary School voiced her opinion on why Karratha needs a BOUNCEinc trampoline park.

“BOUNCEinc would be great for Karratha because you can still play games but inside with air-conditioning, outside it gets too hot here,” Indi said.

Gillian Cheruiyot from Millars Well Primary School vocalised how Karratha could be improved for adolescents.

“We need to be asking more teenagers what they actually want for Karratha and have more things to do for different age groups,” Gillian said.

The City of Karratha council said it would look at the ways it could implement these improvements into the city.