Lemoore Middle College senior gets another crack at annual Lions Club Speech Contest

Thursday, February 20, 2020 - 6:24pm By The Leader Staff

Lions Club Speech Contest winners David Figueroa (2nd place), Lions members Gina Arcino and Pini Etchegoin, and champion Sofie Johnson.

A Lemoore Middle College student is making a return trip to the annual Lions Club Student Speaker Contest, the organization’s 83rd annual event. A year ago, Sofie Johnson, then a junior at the local high school, won the Kings Lions Club contest and narrowly missed out at the Regional event a year ago.

Johnson prevailed Wednesday night again as the local Kings Lions Club declared Johnson, a winner for the second year in a row. Johnson, a senior this year, bested fellow Middle College High School freshman, David Figueroa, for the title.

The top this year was “Homelessness in California,” certainly a challenging subject for a pair of high schoolers. Johnson took home $100 for her effort. Figueroa earned a $25 check.

Chairperson Pino Etchegoin introduced the speakers as well as a panel of judges that included Kathy Allison, Lupe Solis, Betty Brown, and alternate Lupe Capozzi, all of whom delivered finely crafted speeches of their own.

Johnson has hopes of becoming someday a data analyst and expects to enroll at either U.C. Berkeley or UCLA in the fall. Until then, she’ll take her public speaking skills to the next competition, the Zone Competition in Laton, on March 4 at the Lions Hall.

Lemoore will host the Regional Zone 1 and Zone 2 competition on March 26.

Lemoore Middle College senior gets another crack at annual Lions Club Speech Contest

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