Two Grade 11 students, Leah and Saskia, did a fabulous job of organizing and facilitating YHS’ first ever YHS Talks! Five students shared how they have pursued their passions with our community. These students spoke about everything from starting her own magazine to using poetry as an outlet. Thank you Taylor, Clara, Talia, Erin, and Alex – you all spoke about finding joy and fulfillment by doing something you enjoy. Thank you for inspiring all of us to pursue what we are passionate about in life! And, thank you Leah and Saskia for celebrating some of the many amazing young women we have in our community. We are looking forward to many more YHS Talks in the future!
All senior students competed to earn one of the 16 spots at this evening event, and the finalists did an incredible job. All of these girls deserve special recognition for this achievement alone. See below for the finalists names.
The night was highlighted by some very funny, powerful, and thoughtful performances, and in a time where we need more young women standing up to have their voices heard, our finalists proved they could command a stage as well as anyone!
Ms. Boteju with alumnae judges
We had an all-alumni judging panel this year, including a past Overall Winner, Anaheed Saatchi ’09; a past People’s Choice winner/Head Girl/Public Speaking Head, Ariana Saatchi ’12; a past Vice-Head and present-day actor/director, Rena Kawabata ’07; and a present-day actor, Aliza Vellani ’09!
The prizewinners for the evening were as follows–a very tough decision for the judges! Click the headings for a video of the recitation.
Thanks to the English Department for their work and guidance during class rounds, to the YHS staff who volunteered to judge the grade finals, to our guest judges, and to all the students and staff who helped with photography, videotaping, ushering, tallying scores, the program, and more!
And finally, thank you to my incredible Co-Heads, Rainy and Julia, Gr. 12, who for the second year in a row helped to organize and MC this event, and who have generally been a pleasure to work with in public speaking over the past five years–I will miss them!
Congratulations to all students for taking on a worthwhile challenge!
