“Speech is power, speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel.”

From Thursday, October 25th to Sunday, October 29th, Hillary Krofchak, Emma Kerswill, Katherine Starr, and Mr. Thompson traveled to Toronto for the 2018 International Independent Schools Public Speaking Competition (IISPSC). This highly competitive tournament involved over 160 competitors from independent schools across the world. Every student competed in three categories and there was six preliminary rounds of public speaking and debate, before the competitors qualified for the finals.

The Pickering College team performed well in rounds of Parliamentary Debate, Cross-Examination Debate, Persuasive Speaking, Impromptu Speaking, Extemporaneous Speaking and Radio Newscast.  Hillary finished tenth overall in Extemporaneous Speaking and Emma finished in the top 25 within one of the largest categories at the tournament: Parliamentary Debate.  Katherine Starr qualified for Finals in two categories and finished third in Radio Newscast and sixth in Interpretive Reading.  Katherine also finished 13th overall, which is very impressive!

Congratulations to the entire team for a great performance!