In mid October, Ms Christianna Hiles, Head of English and Media Studies plus Debate and Public Speaking Coordinator at Saltus, travelled as coach/chaperon with Saltus and BHS students and the BHS coach to the International Independent Schools Public Speaking Competition (IISPSC) in Hong Kong, hosted this year by Renaissance College.

The Public Speaking Team included Saltus students Nalani Dowling (Head Girl), Nicholas Pell (Deputy Head Boy), SGY2 Daniel Oatley, SGY2 Sydney Sleeves, S11 Kayla Dowling and S11 Megan Zimmerer.

Representatives from 35 schools attended including students from England, India, Scotland, Canada, the United States and, of course, Bermuda. The competition started on the Friday and the first evening saw categories such as Interruptive Reading, Cross-Examination Debating, Dramatic Interpretation and After Dinner Speaking.

Each new day brought a new round of the competition or new categories in which to participate. Other categories included: Parliamentary Debating, Impromptu Speaking, Extemporaneous Speaking, Persuasive Speeches and Radio Newscast. Each category presented its own challenges but nothing that we couldn’t handle.

Monday was the end of the competition and was also the day when we found out who made the “Finals” for each category. Nalani Dowling made it to the finals for her After Dinner speech to the agents responsible for the “happily ever after endings” and Kayla Dowling made it to the finals for her Interpretative Reading, which was a selected passage from the novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D Taylor. This was Kayla’s first time competing at this level. Nalani Dowling went on to win second place overall in her category which was an amazing accomplishment.

While this trip was packed with debating and public speaking events, we also managed to squeeze in a little sightseeing.

On the Saturday evening, we took the scenic but very windy coach ride up to “The Peak” (a premier spot to view the city of Hong Kong) and enjoyed the light show playing on various skyscrapers.

We were also very ambitious on our final day in Hong Kong and managed to visit: the 10,000 Buddha Monastery (monkeys included), the Hong Kong Science Museum, and the Lady’s Market (where we haggled and got some great bargains). We ended the day with a traditional dim sum meal in Kowloon.

This type of competition is one that requires all participants to embrace a sense of camaraderie as well as a healthy dose of self-confidence. It allows students to foster relationships with other people from all walks of life, form strong bonds with your own team members and ensures that everyone enjoys every minute.

Kayla Dowling and Megan Zimmerer are hoping to improve during next year’s competition and hope others will join in on this thrilling adventure.

One final note, we would also like to extend a huge thank you to the Saltus Association for their generous support which helped make our participation in this competition possible.