Sonia Kang Wins Westborough Lions Youth Speech Contest

Westborough High School sophomore, Sonia Kang, won the Westborough Lions 2019-20 Youth Speech contest on Tuesday, December 3rd at Tatnuck Bookseller. She was also a runner-up in the Massachusetts Lions, District 33A, Zone 2 Contest on December 9th, where she competed against the winners of the Bolton, Harvard, and Northborough Lions Clubs at the Harvard Public Library. She is shown second from the right in the Zone 2 group photo above. The speech topic was: What is Heroism?

The contestants' speeches were required to be between five and eight minutes in length. At the Westborough contest, Sonia was allowed to read from her manuscript. At the Zone 2 Contest, only three notecards were allowed, effectively requiring her to memorize her speech. At both events, the speeches were judged on Delivery, Effectiveness, and Text. Gracie O'Leary, from Worcester Academy and sponsored by the Bolton Lions Club, won the Zone 2 contest. She will move on to compete at the Region 1 Contest in Milford in January, together with the first runner-up, Ashton Holm from Northborough.

There are monetary prizes for winning each of the five levels of the Massachusetts Lions Youth Speech competition, culminating in a $1500 prize for the State winner. In 2018, Megan Ku from Westborough High School won all five levels, including the Best in State award.