Seven area high school students showed off their speech skills last week during the annual Carbon County Oratorical Competition, held at Penn's Peak in Jim Thorpe.

The event has been held for over 40 years.This year's winners were Noah Easterly of Panther Valley and Erin Kelly of Jim Thorpe.Other competitors included Huntre Keip of Panther Valley; Josiah Behrens of Jim Thorpe; Samantha Hartz of Weatherly; and Emel Rasim and Jacob Taylor, both of Palmerton.Bonnie Tavella, moderator for the event and oratory adviser in Palmerton Area High School, said the competition is a way to showcase the talents of the students.The students were able to choose any topic they liked for their speech. Topics included: "Finding My Horizon," "Three is a Crowd," "Their Journey, My Journey," "It's not the Gun that Killed," "Let the Band Play On," "The Importance of Voting and Why Everyone Must," and "Broadway: The Trail of Dreams."They were judged on the choice of subject, structure and style of the speech, their bodily and vocal expressions, ability to stay within the eight-minute time limit and personal qualities.In addition, each student was coached by a school adviser who helped in the preparation of the speeches. This year's advisers included Tavella, Christine Rosenberger of Jim Thorpe, Barbara Sipler of Weatherly and Rick Morgans of Panther Valley.The Carbon County Oratory Competition has a long history in the area schools. It began as the Carbon County Principal's Association Oratory Contest and was held at Blue Ridge TV-13 studios before moving to Penn's Peak.