Four poised, expressive, and charismatic Upper Schoolers bravely took the stage in Brauer Auditorium on Friday, December 8, to compete in the 107th Prize Speaking competition, which is sponsored by the English Department. Each one of the orators performed a well-rehearsed, memorized, one-and-a-half to two-minute-long monologue from a play or literary piece. A panel of three MICDS teachers served as judges who scored the presenters’ vocal choices, body language, and connection to both the audience and to the piece itself. Then, a winner was selected as the 2023 Prize Speaking champion.
“Every single performance this year was outstanding, and the material of each so drastically different,” said Nicole Trueman-Shaw, Director of Upper School Student Leadership & Dean of Students. “These young performers inspired the student body with their courage, preparation, and delivery. It was unusual this year to have one finalist from each grade level. Typically, we see more upperclassmen take this on, so I’m very excited for the future of the Dartmouth Cup, knowing we have so much good talent moving through the ranks!
Nina Schuerer ’25 kicked off the Prize Speaking assembly by reciting To My Favorite 17-Year-Old High School Girl by Billy Collins. Next up to the stage was Jada Greer ’24 performing an edited version of Dinosaurs in the Hood by Danez Smith. Third up was Robyn Davies ’26, delivering an excerpt from The Vinyl Cafe by Stewart McClain. Last but not least, Grace Griffin ’27 performed Be Nobody’s Darling by Alice Walker.
Our judges this year were Upper School History Teacher Andy Cox, Upper School Science Teacher Brian Coco, and Upper School Library Assistant Aaron Elliott. They deliberated in the Hearth Room to determine the 2023 winner. To deliver the exciting news, Trueman-Shaw took to the podium and asked the contestants to return to the stage, where she announced that Robyn Davies was the winner of the 2023 Prize Speaking competition! Per tradition, Davies’ name will be inscribed on the Dartmouth Cup which is displayed throughout the year on the MICDS campus.
Davies shared how she selected her piece. “I grew up listening to Canadian storyteller, broadcaster, and author Stuart McClain’s The Vinyl Cafe short stories on my parent’s radio. Speaking with humor to the lives of ordinary people, his stories grew with me as both a cherished memory and a continuous inspiration. Needless to say, when considering what piece I wanted to share with the school, I thought immediately of this warm holiday story.
“The experience of presenting on stage was deeply rewarding,” Davies reflected. “Directly engaging our community was inspiring, and I was happy to have shared a holiday story that’s brought me joy year after year! My hope was that the narrative would resonate similarly with the Upper School community at MICDS. I have our student body to thank for making this such a memorable experience, and I would be remiss not to extend my gratitude to Dean Truman, both for her guidance throughout rehearsals and for orchestrating yet another year of this century-long tradition. For the opportunity to share this piece of personal sentiment with our school community, I am forever grateful.”
The fellow final participants took some time to share what the Prize Speaking competition meant to them. “I have felt so supported by the MICDS community after going up, which honestly is a large part of the reason I was able to go up there,” Greer shared. “I was talking backstage about how I was nervous to be vulnerable and put myself up on stage, but I genuinely and fully trusted that the MICDS community would celebrate my vulnerability, not attack it. I am so grateful that I got to share a piece that impacted me so heavily when I heard it. My hope was that at least one person would go and follow up on the piece after I performed it, and I think that dream was definitely fulfilled!”
Public speaking takes a lot of courage, and each contestant grew from taking on the challenge of Prize Speaking with such grace. “I’ve done Prize Speaking for the past three years, and it’s honestly the most beautifully terrifying thing I’ve ever done,” said Schuerer. “There’s a certain romance to practicing a poem again and again everywhere you go, but nothing can prepare you for the adrenaline of the stage. It’s really one of the highlights of the year for me, and I can’t wait to do it again.”
To all of the contestants, congratulations! It is no small feat to get up in front of your peers and publicly speak with confidence, expressiveness, and poise. Bravo to Nina, Jada, Grace, and our 2023 champion, Robyn!