For Immediate Release
Contact: Kerry Minster
706.454.1562
kerry.minster@lakeoconeeacademy.org

LAKE OCONEE ACADEMY STUDENTS RECORD STRONG PERFORMANCES AT GHSA LITERARY MEET
Pearson Becomes Back-to-Back State Champion

Greensboro, Ga. (March 19, 2018) - Lake Oconee Academy students displayed strong performances at the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) Literary Meet on Saturday, March 17, 2018, at Georgia Military College in Milledgeville, Ga. After finishing in first place in their region competitions, senior Bobby Hatfield, junior Chandler Pearson and freshman Stu Baker notched a first place win and two second place finishes in the GHSA Region A-Public, Area 5 state competition. The GHSA supports education-based interscholastic sports and activities, facilitating the development of fine arts and critical thinking and speaking skills.

Baker placed second in Boys Solo with his performance of "Santa Fe" from the Broadway musical Newsies and "Alma del core" from Caldara's opera entitled La constanza. Hatfield placed second in Extemporaneous Speaking - International by addressing the question, "How did the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea affect the tensions in the Korean Peninsula?"
Pearson followed up her 2017 state championship title with another first place win in Extemporaneous Speaking - Domestic. This year her speech addressed the question, "Can members of Congress lay politics aside and do what they believe is the right thing for the American people?"

Extemporaneous Speaking is a public speaking contest in which contestants are provided a selection of topics dealing with current national or international issues that have been discussed in periodicals since September 1 of the current year. Each contestant draws three topics and must select one of the three to address in competition. A contestant is then allotted 30 minutes to plan and organize his/her speech and seven minutes to deliver the speech. The criteria for judging the competition includes: (a) analysis of topic (b) organizational skills (c) logical support (d) language skills and (e) delivery skills.

"Congratulations to Stu, Bobby and our back-to-back champion Chandler for their hard work and dedication to the GHSA Literary Meet," said Dr. Otho Tucker, CEO of LOA. "These experiences will benefit their overall academic performance as well as their preparation for life skills outside of the classroom. A heartfelt thank you to the faculty sponsors, Mrs. Colleen Ham and Mrs. Juli Malcom, for inspiring and preparing students to take on these challenges."

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Photo A (left to right): Stu Baker, Chandler Pearson and Bobby Hatfield celebrate their performances at the GHSA Literary Meet on March 17, 2018.
Photo B: Chandler Pearson is the winner of back-to-back state titles at the GHSA Literary Meet in the category of Extemporaneous Speaking - Domestic.