Kolb Elementary Student Wins National Speech Competition

Shriyadita Poduval, a fifth grader at Kolb Elementary School, has recently won first place at a national speech competition. The event saw over 100 students from across the country give speeches centered around the topic “Divided We Fall.” This was the third annual Original Oratory competition hosted by the Central Valley based Rrooar Coding and Robotics Academy. Students were split into Group 1 (grades 1 through 4) and Group 2 (grades 5 through 8), and competed in qualifying rounds before proceeding to the national championship event the following weekend.

Shriyadita and other participants were required to write an original speech on the topic, and perform it in front of a panel of judges on Zoom. Many distinguished professionals from the Bay Area and Central Valley served as the event’s judges, including attorneys, actors, and marketing professionals. Other notable guests of honor were National Original Oratory champion, JJ Kapur, and U.S. Representative, Josh Harder, who shared inspiring messages with the participants to kick off the championship round.

After two weekends of competition, Shriyadita was named the overall winner of Group 2. Her speech contained a nuanced discussion on having different opinions from one another versus being “divided.” She observed that in our country’s struggle to confront issues such as gun violence, COVID-19, and homelessness, we may often “stick to our egos and blind beliefs,” which halts discussion and prevents progress. She added that having different opinions on these problems is “an opportunity to learn from each other,” but this is unfortunately not what she sees happening in our political landscape.

During the months leading up to the event, Shriyadita attended Rrooar’s specialized “Incubator” sessions. In these coaching and mentoring classes, she worked in small groups with other competition winners from previous years to chisel her public speaking skills. The sessions were led by entrepreneur and theater activist Ish Amitoj Kaur, who previously worked with Shriyadita in The Theater Factory’s production of Disney’s Lion King, Junior in Newark.

In addition to public speaking, Shriyadita loves to sing and dance; she has been learning Indian Classical Music, and Bharatnatyam, a traditional Indian dance form, for the past 5 years. She loves animals and is passionate about preventing animal cruelty. Her favorite animal is the giraffe, and has even written a book featuring them as characters. Congratulations to her for representing Kolb Elementary and the City of Dublin at the national level!