Middle School Speech Competition Impresses at Greenwood

Congratulations to Leo Duviner '30 and Skylar Bernstein '31 who have the opportunity to go on to compete at the Sterling Hall Speech Competition in March after winning at Greenwood.

The pair were amongst the five Grade 7 and 8 finalists who presented their speeches in front of peers and guest judges at Greenwood’s Middle School Assembly earlier this month.

Topics included nepotism in Kpop, Marie Curie's ground-breaking career, fast fashion, Roblox's lack of security measures, and the pitfalls of short-form videos. 

Special guest judge and TEDx speaker Chris Cummins gave the students advice from his more than 20 years of public speaking experience. 

“You have some incredibly talented people in your midst,” Chris said following the competition. “Congratulations to the five finalists for having the guts to stand up there and give their incredible speeches. 

“You are all winners in my books for getting up there and giving it a try.”

English teacher Zoe Sedlak also congratulated the students on behalf of the English teachers.

“We selected these students because they presented thought-provoking, insightful, and interesting topics with passion,” she said. “We are all proud of what they achieved on the bigger stage. Great job to all participants!” 

Kudos to all of the finalists: Sklyar Bernstein ‘31, Leo Duviner ‘30, Sam Lapowich, Ryan Lau ‘30 and Fiona Veneziano ‘31.