Stoughton Central School Grade 11 student Jessica Baumgartner placed third in the high school category of the national Speaker鈥檚 Idol competition on Thursday, and will receive an iPad as a prize.聽
The national contest was hosted by the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, and drew over 300 submissions from across Canada. Jessica ended up as a finalist in the Grades 9-12 category, and she spoke on the topic of sexual assault.聽
鈥淚 feel everything went very well. Honestly, I was amazed I even had the opportunity to be a part of it,鈥� she said after the finals were held online on YouTube.聽
Baumgartner loved the comments made by the judges after her speech, and felt they gave her a huge confidence boost with their encouraging words.聽
鈥淓specially now I will be keeping my eyes open for speech opportunities,鈥� she said.聽
The first judge, Dr. Samantha Nutt, said Jessica鈥檚 speech was 鈥渋ncredible,鈥� and commented, 鈥淵ou started out strong and I felt you maintained that all the way through. It was brave, it was positive and it was powerful.鈥澛�
She thought Baumgartner did well with a first-person scenario, then with general comments about the issue of active consent, and hopes Baumgartner will be able to give this speech again in other environments, 鈥渂ecause I certainly hope that a lot of young men in particular get to hear your very powerful message.鈥澛�
Judge Matthew Gottlieb commented also, saying Jessica鈥檚 speech was 鈥渟pectacular,鈥� and said he was shocked at her use of a Wiesenthal quote.聽
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 expecting it, and because of that, it grabbed me instantly and you didn鈥檛 let me go the entire time.鈥澛�
He also noted she had a way of reaching her audience in a deeply emotional way, and said her speech 鈥渨as well done, surprising and powerful.鈥澛�
Of her speech competitors, she said, 鈥淓veryone had so much to say. I was definitely able to learn and really grasp what the other competitors were talking about, as well as learning the importance of their topics.鈥澛�
Asked if she might go into the contest next year, her Grade 12 year, she said she will consider it, knowing now what hard work goes into selecting a topic and figuring out what to say.聽
Prior to the competition, Baumgartner said her principal forwarded an email to her about the speech competition, and while unsure at first about entering it, she was excited by the prospect of being to talk about any subject she wanted.
鈥淚 chose to talk about sexual assault and how it鈥檚 still a problem, and how things need to change,鈥� she said.
At first Baumgartner just submitted her written speech, and then was asked to submit a video of her giving the speech.
鈥淭hey had a big Zoom call with all of us, and they had us say it again,鈥� explained Baumgartner.
鈥淲hen I entered this competition, I didn鈥檛 think I would make it this far. I was happy that I was able to enter,鈥� she added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so thrilling that I made the top six.鈥�
Baumgartner is part of her school鈥檚 student representative council, so she has done some public speaking through her role there as well as in some debate competitions, and last fall she was the MC for the school鈥檚 Remembrance Day ceremonies.
Each of the 11 finalists (five in the Grades 6-8 category and six in the Grades 9-12 category) had to use the following quote by Wiesenthal: 鈥淭he history of humankind is the history of crimes and history can repeat. So information is a defence. Through this we can build, we must build, a defence against repetition.鈥澛�
