A Place to Stand
Our Year 3 and 4 boys were first to their speech finals, both speaking on Tūrangawaewae, ‘a place to stand’. Each speech brought a unique interpretation, revealing the people and memories tied to our boys’ special places. Year 3 speakers supplemented their talks with a poster board, with Teddy Green (Matarangi) and Daniel Moon (Korea) taking winner and runner-up respectively.
Year 4 upgraded to slide decks, adding a digital dimension to their speeches. Jackson Greenslade took the win with a descriptive and humorous talk on ‘Grandpa's Place’, while runner-up Landon Tang spoke on ‘My Kitchen’ and the culinary collision of cultures within it.
Eight finalists reached the Year 5 and 6 final, taking the theme ‘Our roots, Our voices, Our future’ in their own direction. External judges Jodie Rowe and Chris Hodder from the College had the job of choosing a winner from a ranging field of topics, from family history to imagined futures. Dylan Ormond came in first place with ‘Future Me’, and Carter Lin was runner-up with ‘Two Cultures, One Me’, a speech on holding two identities at once.
The senior final was split into three sections – formal speeches, spoken word, and flash talks – judged by Kate Laurence, co-founder of Head Held High, and Venice Qin, a singer-songwriter and College alumna. Harrison Te’o won the formal section and the competition overall with ‘Born and Raised in South Auckland’. His personal and humour-laden speech disarmed common stereotypes of the area by simply sharing the beauty he sees. Tom Balkett was runner-up, cleverly personifying negative self-talk in ‘The Art of the Inner Voice’.
In spoken word, Felix Silverstone won with ‘The Iron Curtain’, drawing a line from the crumbling Berlin Wall to the divisions we build in our own minds. William Wang took the flash talk category, where the slides change every fifteen seconds, with ‘150 Hertz Heartbeat’, a reminder that everyone starts with the same first heartbeat.
What stood out across every final was how clearly our boys can speak to their own identity, their culture, and the futures they imagine for themselves.
