Second-place winner junior Amelia Haynes and third-place winner junior Elizabeth Bigham of the AP Capstone Project Soapbox speech competition visited Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia’s office on Monday, January 4, and were greeted by the incredible invitation to intern at the mayor’s office over the summer of 2016.
The AP Capstone classes convened at McBride High School in November for a district-wide speech competition with Wilson student AJ Walker winning first, with Haynes and Bigham placing second and third, respectively.
Haynes’s speech tackled the stigma surrounding mental illness.
“I have family and close friends who suffer from mental illness and I hated that they felt ashamed,” Haynes explained about why she chose the topic. “I was… angry at the way society treats mental illness.”
Bigham discussed sexual harassment in schools in her speech. After doing some research, she realized that sexual harassment is “a lot bigger than the media might put forward.”
“I started off by addressing sexual harassment in college and the fact that college women don’t come forward about incidences [of harassment]… We need to stand by victims of sexual harassment to make sure that they can get through [it],” said Bigham.
Both girls were excited by the opportunity of a paid internship before even starting their senior year of high school. When they arrived at the mayor’s office, the winners had no idea what was coming.
“I was not expecting that at all,” said Haynes about the internship offer.
Bigham expressed her eagerness to participate this summer. Bigham said, “I am super excited about the internship and… an amazing experience.”
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