Ellia McClain, a seventh-grade student at Armuchee High School, has won the 2024 Floyd County Schools (FCS) Oratorical Contest. The oratorical event was started in 2009 to allow students to display their academic skills and connect with other students. The 2024 contest was the 15th annual competition and used the speech theme “How to Change the World with Optimism.”
Students competed at the school level to represent their school and advance to the system contest. The top two school qualifiers from each middle grades school participated in the system contest. The contest was coordinated by FCS middle grades district ELA coach Lindsay Norton. The contest was judged by FCS academic coaches Miranda Styles, Courtney Allen and Dr. Tabatha Tierce. The contestants were scored on poise, speech content, delivery, and overall effectiveness. The speech could be no more than five minutes.
The winners of the contest were:
Armuchee
First place: Ellia McClain, seventh-grade
Second place: Libby Lively, sixth-grade
Coosa
First place: Aubrey Murray, sixth-grade
Second place: Maddox Hammons, seventh-grade
Model
First place: Eva Singh, seventh-grade
Second place: Camee Kines, fifth-grade
Pepperell
First place: Bella Purdy, sixth-grade
Second place: Isabella Newman, seventh-grade
Overall Winners
First place: Ellia McClain, seventh-grade, Armuchee High
Second place: Aubrey Murray, sixth-grade, Coosa Middle
Third place: Libby Lively, sixth-grade, Armuchee Elementary
