HONOLULU – More than 300 elementary students are expected to participate in the 26th Annual
Honolulu District Speech Festival on Saturday, May 10 at McKinley High School. The festival helps
students in grades 3 through 6 develop and showcase their verbal communication skills and
techniques.
More than 8,000 students are estimated to have participated in the festival over the last two
decades. The event has been sponsored since its inception by Chevron.
“The Honolulu District Speech Festival is a valuable opportunity for our students to expand their
presentation skills,” said Ruth Silberstein, superintendent for the Kaimuki-McKinley-Roosevelt
complex in the Honolulu District. “Chevron has been a vital, worthwhile partner in this endeavor as
we work to provide our students with real-world skills.”
Event categories include choral reading, oral interpretation, group interpretation, poetry reading,
and storytelling. After the event, each student is awarded a medal for participation at a ceremony
held immediately following student presentations.
“We are so proud of Chevron’s 26-year partnership with the Honolulu District. By helping
elementary-age keiki refine their oral communications skills at this annual event, they learn the skills
necessary to become Hawaii’s future leaders. It is amazing to see the quality of the student
presentations and the pride the children have when presenting their pieces to our volunteer judges,”
said Chevron’s Carina Tagupa, community relations specialist.
Festival judges are volunteers from The Hawaii State Legislature, Association of Chinese University
Women, St. Louis Heights Community Association, YMCA, Oahu Retired Teachers Association,
Diamond Head/Kapahulu/St. Louis Heights Neighborhood Board, Central Pacific Bank, Alpha Delta
Kappa, West Honolulu Rotary Club, Ala Moana Rotary Club, Business Network International, the
University of Hawaii (UH) College of Education Alumni Association, State Dept. of Education, UH
Department of Communicology, West Honolulu Rotary Club, YMCA, and Chevron employees and
retirees.
Student presentations begin at 8:30 a.m., followed by the awards ceremony at 11:15 a.m. in the
gymnasium.
