Ryan Toole to contest N-District State Finals

Ryan Toole representing the Lions Club of Grenfell has gone on to win the Lions Youth of the Year District Finals. Ryan alongside Matilda Morley representing the Lions Club of Mt Panorama and Patrick field representing the Lions Club of Junee had outstanding performances in the district finals on Saturday, 11 April, hosted by the Lions Club of Griffith Inc. Unfortunately, the student representing the Griffith Lions Club was a late withdrawal. Following the formal introductions Lions Youth of the Year District coordinator Lion Peter Perry welcomed quest entrants and their families. Three outstanding students, Patrick Field, Matilda Morley and Ryan Toole displayed their talents and knowledge before the distinguished judging panel: Alex Davies, Kelly Dal Broi, Stephanie Van Lubeck, Peta Dummett, Margaret Andreazza and Susan Elizabeth Reynolds. Following the private interviews that contributed to the final scores, the entrants addressed the two two-minute impromptu questions. Q1: Imagine that you are tele-ported back to a classroom 17 years ago. What advise would you give them about 2026? Q2: If you could design your school - what would it look like? Each student captivated the audience with powerful and moving speeches. Matilda’s speech was “Empathy, Sympathy and Community Spirit", Patrick’s speech was “Prejudice and hate through social media", Meanwhile, Ryan’s heartfelt story about his conversation with his grandfather explored the theme of “Connection over Perfection". Congratulations Patrick, Matilda and Ryan on their outstanding achievements and we wish them every success in their future endeavours. The speaking segment which the public witnessed only accounts for thirty of the marks with the other seventy marks being allocated from their performance at the private interview and information supplied on their entry forms. Ryan was announced as the Overall winner of the competition. The Quest is a community project that is designed to encourage, foster and develop leadership in conjunction with other citizenship qualities in our youth, at the age when they are about to enter the fields of employment or higher education, and provides students with the incentive to pay greater attention to the general qualities, so vital in developing our youths into first class citizens. The qualities sought, apart from academic attainments are those of leadership, personality, sportsmanship, public speaking and good citizenship. The students meet in fellowship and have the opportunity of open discussion, exchange of ideas and meet professional people of a community service club organisation. Certificates were presented to the judges and timekeepers. Ryan will now represent the Lions Club of Grenfell Inc at the N-District State Finals in Woden ACT on 2 May. If successful he will contest the 2026 National Final during the Lions National Convention in Adelaide South Australia, from 22-25 May.