Elder abuse, bullying, animal welfare and freedom were among the topics about which District 16  students spoke eloquently in the recent high school oratory contest held at James M. Hill Memorial High School. Two representatives from the district’s 5 high schools  had a five minute time frame to speak to the audience on a topic of their choice followed by a one minute impromptu speech on a randomly selected topic, drawn from a box, for which they had 30 seconds to prepare. After considerable deliberation the adjudicating panel of three former district English teachers awarded first place to Katie Hamilton whose main speech was about the harmful results of cultural  influence on girls’ perceptions of body image. Second place was awarded to Tim Henderson who spoke about freedom. Both of these students attend North and South Esk Regional High School and will be competing in the New Bruswick provincial oratory competition in Fredericton on May 20.  Third place was awarded to Kathleen MacMillan from Miramichi Valley High School who spoke on the community’s need for an indoor all-purpose field-sports facilities particularly for winter-time use.