On Thursday, March 4 the Escalon Lions Club hosted its annual Student Speakers contest in the City Council chambers on McHenry Avenue. There were a total of five speakers who spoke on the topic of “Distance Learning, Pro’s and Con’s.”

The event was also streamed on the city’s YouTube channel so all interested parties could hear the speeches as attendance was limited due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The Student Speaker contest winner was Melissa Mendieta-Hernandez who is now eligible to participate in the Lions Club Zone student speakers contest. Currently, that event is scheduled to be staged in Ripon on Thursday, March 25 at the Ripon Christian School auditorium at 7 p.m.; the location is subject to change.

As the winner of the Escalon Lions Club contest, Mendieta-Hernandez received a $100 award while the other speakers each received $25 each for participating.

Along with Mendieta-Hernandez, who also won the Escalon Sunrise Rotary Club speech contest in February, participants for the Lions Club event included Destiny Reyes, Natalie Coelho, Madison Hagglund and Jacob Dugo.