And she moves on....

Each year our school participates in a county-wide speech contest sponsored by Tropicana and 4-H. The contest is from 4th-6th graders and a winner is chosen from each grade. At our school, it is mandatory for the kids to compete for their speech grade.

The first round puts through about half of the participants who move on to the second round at school. This round produces 1st - 3rd place winners with the first place winner moving on to the semi-finals with other county winners. Winners from that round move to the finals.

Madison has come in second place the last two years behind her buddy, Camille. Each year we have trooped to the finals to watch Camille's speech. The winner receives tuition paid for the 4-H camp held somewhere in the state. Several schools participate from the public, private and home-schooled sector. This year Madison came in 1st place and gets to move on. Here is her speech:

Sounds

Ding, errrrr, WOO-WOO, hello, chirp chirp. Just listen to all those wonderful sounds! There are many different types of sounds in the world, and of course many different uses for them as well, but have you ever noticed how they affect our emotions, how they trigger a handful of responses, or just how many uses there really are? Most likely not, but all that could change with a few seconds of sound.

Happy, sad, embarrassed, excited, and angry are some of the different emotions sounds can cause. Some happy sounds could be the chirp of birds, the music of the ice cream truck, or laughter. Unfortunately, some meanings of sound can change; one minute ago you and your friend were laughing about a joke you just learned, the next every one might be laughing at you because you tripped on some garbage while not paying attention. That would make it an embarrassing sound. Sounds that make us sad might be the sobs of people crying, or the crack when you break a bone. Considering this sounds have plenty of effect on our emotions, which can lead to different reactions.

Responses and reactions can be helpful and harmful in plenty of ways. Let’s say you hear the fire alarm. What would you do? You would probably jump up and know to exit the building. That sound is very helpful in the reaction it causes. They could be harmful if you hear yelling and start to become angry because then you might hurt or destroy something. Reactions are mainly triggered by the emotions you feel when you hear a sound, but like the fire alarm, they can also be done through a taught response.

Sounds, however, aren’t just used to make people happy or sad or to provide different responses. They have a variety of different uses, and without sounds, we wouldn’t be what we are today. Sounds are used to communicate, make music, signals, and to express yourself. Without them I couldn’t be giving this speech, it would almost be impossible to know if the telephone was ringing, but more importantly, it would make the world seem pretty boring.

All in all, sounds are extremely useful, especially in how they affect our emotions, how they trigger responses from us, and all there other different uses. Sounds are one of the great things that make up our world. For me though the best sound, I could hear now would be the sound of claps and cheers as I finish this speech.

© 2008-2009 MB