COUNTYWIDE : Hearts Aflutter in Speech Tournament

David Choljian likens public speaking to getting seasick.

“Speaking in front of people is like being on a boat that won’t stop rocking,” said David, an eighth-grade student at Camarillo’s Monte Vista Intermediate School. “You feel disoriented at first, but after awhile you settle down and get better.”

David and some 60 other sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students from 14 schools in Ventura and Los Angeles counties battled racing hearts Saturday during Monte Vista’s annual El Camino Real speech tournament.

Kristin Littlefield, an eighth-grader at Monte Vista, walked away with two first-place trophies: for “Joan of Arc Speaks” in the oral interpretation category and for teaming up with fellow eighth-grader Kelly Watson in dual interpretation for “The Ham Curing.”

Camarillo’s Los Altos Intermediate School finished first overall in the competition. Monte Vista took second place.