Despite the name at the top of this post, it was written by Holly Mott and Joe Broughton, directors of communications at Stoneleigh-Burnham and Winsor Schools respectively. We are thrilled to have this first-ever blog post collaboration between two schools, and offer them our congratulations on the recent successes of their girls. Here’s a challenge to the rest of you: team up and write something about how your schools together speak to the bigger mission and message of NCGS. —S.R.
Stoneleigh-Burnham teammates preparing for the next round of competition at IISPSC
Debate and public speaking build life skills that can provide the competitive edge for academic and professional success. A poised, accomplished public speaker can go far. This is the season when our schools’ most intrepid young speakers put their skills to the test in regional and international competitions. To the neophyte, this arena can seem an esoteric society for what may likely be the future power (and peace) brokers of America and the world. That’s a story unto itself, but we are reminded that this is a blog post, and that the best blog posts are, well, brief.
So we’ll keep it simple: the headline to this story is that the top two American students at the 28th Annual International Independent Schools Public Speaking Competition (IISPSC) were girls, both of whom attend girls’ schools. That, in and of itself, is impressive, but set against the backdrop of the Deerfield campus (host to this year’s competition), teeming with 168 young men and women in power suits and school uniforms representing 46 schools from 8 different countries, the story takes on greater importance. This was no small feat.
The top American public speaker at the competition was Sonya Levitova, a junior from the Winsor School in Boston, MA. She made history by becoming the first girl ever to win the top spot for two straight years. She teamed with Winsor’s Helen Yu and Lindsay Eysenbach to earn top American school honors. Bryna Cofrin-Shaw, a senior from Stoneleigh-Burnham School in Greenfield, MA, captured second place American speaker and the honor of advancing to the Worlds in Lithuania, where she’ll be competing alongside Lindsay. Both Winsor and Stoneleigh-Burnham have long-standing, impressive records with this competition and have both claimed top American public speaker and top American team in prior competitions.
No small feat, and we’d suggest, no coincidence. To us, however, the story is about more than these award-winning young speakers. Stoneleigh-Burnham’s mission statement challenges each girl to discover her best self and graduate with the confidence to think independently and act ethically, secure in the knowledge that her voice will be heard. Winsor instills similar values, working from a curricular philosophy geared to developing confident, independent thinkers and “strong, courageous women.”
Our schools certainly are not alone. Girls’ voices will be heard: that is the guarantee of a girls’ school. At girls’ schools, the confidence to speak with authority is cultivated. When girls speak up, they realize that they “have something to say,” to borrow the great tagline of the Madeira School.
When we listen to stories within the broader culture, we often hear of young girls “losing” their voice and sense of self. At our schools, we hear girls talk in terms of what they find. “My voice.” “Confidence.” “A belief that what I have to say is valuable.”
Girls’ schools undoubtedly foster confidence in young women and encourage them to speak their minds. But perhaps it is in how a girl’s voice is received, is heard, that prepares her so well. According to Winsor’s Sonya, “I love standing there and knowing that people are listening to what I’m saying and maybe they’ll go home and think about my speech a little bit. I’m constantly thinking what to say next and how to say it. And yet, my outer self is utterly composed and unflappable. That contrast is amazing to me.”
It’s no secret—and no surprise—that girls’ schools are home to world-class speakers. Thanks to Bryna, Sonya and their teammates, the world is heeding the clear, powerful, convincing voices of girls.
“Impuwe” is Rwandan for compassion, and also stands for “inspire and motivate powerful, undiscovered women with education.” Fourteen-year-old Jessica Markowitz is founder of IMPUWE, a group that helps Rwandan students — paying for schooling and a library.
There’s no question that here on the blue planet we have been poor stewards of the environment. The news is worrisome, the predictions dire. So there is something healing and energizing about hearing a hopeful message from a well-informed, wise, and purehearted individual. Zoologist Jane Goodall is just such a person. Through her pioneering work with the chimpanzees of Gombe, she has inspired many young girls who love animals to dream of lives working in the wild, as field biologists. Goodall is a gracious presence, lightly humorous, and as far from pompous as a person can get. She begins this wonderful talk for the 
