In May, Year 11 student Cyprus Causer took part in the 2022 Race Unity Speech Competition; a speech competition for students in Years 11, 12, and 13 with a central goal of discovering how we can make New Zealand racism-free. The competition partners with the Baha’i community and NZ Police, as well the NZ Human Rights Commission. The event was held in the evening at the Pasifika Community Centre at Manukau Institute of Technology.
The theme for this year was ‘Fingers of One Hand’ and students were tasked with writing a speech with a maximum length of 8 minutes.
Cyprus described her speech as ‘utilising a metaphor where fingers come together to create a painting.’ She explained that “the fingers are all different”, representing our diverse society, “but when they come together, they have the choice to create a colourful textured art piece”, meaning a racism-free society, “or a monotone dull canvas”, meaning a racist society.
Cyprus commented that she “spoke about racism in New Zealand and used a bit of rap and poetry to add texture and interest.” Cyprus was placed third in the regional semi-finals (out of 31 Auckland entries) and missed out on the finals by one place. There was a total of 122 entries nationwide.
Cyprus was the only competitor from our college and also the youngest competitor in the Auckland semi-finals. A big congratulations to her for her wonderful achievement. Cyprus and the College also extend a huge thank you to Ms Du-Blom for supporting Cyprus during this event.
