Northwood Middle School student Haley Manes was the winner of the Fort Wayne Community Schools Middle School Persuasive Speech Contest held Tuesday, May 19. The contest highlights middle school students from throughout the district who first competed in and won their school-wide contests. The 10 winners then go on to meet in the District Finals. Following Manes, First Runner Up was Zara McCord from Memorial Park Middle School. Second Runner Up was Harrison Snyder from Blackhawk Middle School. Other speakers were: Traeon Colvin, Miami Middle School; Marilyn Nguyen, Portage Middle School; Moe Oo, Towles New Tech; Haley Waugh, Jefferson Middle School; Madison Spradlin, Kekionga Middle School; Samantha Dillman, Shawnee Middle School; and Than Win, Lakeside Middle School. Zoe Frieburger of Lane Middle School was unable to compete. Betty Stein served as the Mistress of Ceremonies and moderator. The contest was judged by Northrop Speech Coach Laura Archbold, District Coach Cookye Rutledge, and Director of Retention and Diversity at the University of Saint Francis Garien Hudson. The contest was sponsored by Northwood Middle School and coordinated by Tara Christen of Northwood Middle School. This year’s contest and will be rebroadcast on LTV 54/24 (Comcast 54/Frontier 24) at 4 p.m. May 21 and 23 and 3 p.m. May 24 and 25.