Students' Fun Zone, an organization committed to improving the communication skills of young speakers, held its first regional speech contest with contestants representing 10 schools in the Eastern Province. The contests, organized by the Saudi Reading Society, were held in the presence of Saudi Television Channel 2 which added to the excitement of the participants and their parents. The girls' competition was held at the International School Group auditorium while the boys competed at Al-Manarat International School. Grade 8 and 9 students had to speak on the topic ‘Saving the animals', while, Grade 6 and 7 students had to make their own advertisements to compete in the ‘Amazing advertisement speech' contest. Students from Grades 2 to 5, competing to be the best ‘Radio Rabbit', had to speak about their favorite storybook with the help of illustrations. The audience, which included parents, teachers and students, applauded the contestants' presentations. Hanan El-Gibaly, the founder and sponsor of Students' Fun Zone, told Saudi Gazette that each school selected its own candidates to compete in the speech contest. Students performed their presentation as if they were being interviewed by a radio broadcaster as a guest speaker. “We are planning to submit these recordings to the Saudi radio station to consider broadcasting the contestants' speeches,” said El Gibaly. “Rick Barnhouse, the Principal of International Schools Group, said, “The efforts of these students are remarkable which proves the efficiency and capability of the students in their extracurricular activities.”
