Black's Mill Elementary is continuing its dedication to prepare students for higher learning.

On Feb. 28, the school held an oratorical contest in the media center.

Hosted by the Modern Woodmen of American, the purpose of the contest is to "give kids a chance to gain new public speaking skills, fine-tune existing English skills and enhance self-esteem.Participants learn skills that will help with school projects, job interviews and even careers."

Eleven students prepared a three to five minute speech for the contest with the topic of "how to live a healthy life."

But in the end, it was fifth grader Grace Dominy's energy-filled speech about healthy eating and exercise that made the three-judge panel award her with first place.

"I've been working on my speech for about a month," she said. "I do this kind of stuff all the time. So I did a little bit of research on the Internet, because I didn't know all of it, but it's my lifestyle."

Black's Mill Principal Cindy Kinney said she couldn't have been more proud of all the students that gave speeches.

"I'm so proud of all of these students," she said. "It takes a lot to get in front of your peers and I know a lot of hard work went into these speeches."