Race speech with sign language stands out

Tamara was one of only four students from the South Island to participate in the event, and the only one to make it to the final.

‘‘I represented my school, Marlborough, and the entirety of the South Island in the finals, which was ‘no pressure at all’,’’ she said, laughing.

‘‘I’m interested in a lot of topics that are popular in the media. We’ve talked about race relations and discrimination in school before, and I know people that have been affected by racism, which I mentioned in my speech,’’ she said.

‘‘I’ve always wanted to support those around me who can’t support themselves, and advocating for people when they don’t have a voice is something I’ve been interested in.’’

Sign language is something she is beginning to learn, the teenager said, inspired by her twin sister, Brianna, who took an introductory course in the language.

‘‘I’m hoping to be able to learn it more because I know it’ll help in future careers,’’ she said. ‘‘There are not a lot of resources I can use to do that, that are affordable and easy to access, but I’m working on either trying to do it in tertiary education or finding resources using Zoom calls where I can just learn it from people.’’