Mary Stanfield Public Speaking Competition 2025
Posted on November 5, 2025
The Mary Stanfield Public Speaking Competition for Year 10 students was held at the beginning of Term 4 (Tuesday 28 October 2025). Student Griff Bendeich emceed the event and we welcomed former alumna Laura Michaelson (2009) as a guest judge. The topic “Break the Cycle” was interpreted differently by four shortlisted student candidates.
The first speaker, Sara Hare, took on the brave topic of domestic violence advocating for all of us to break the cycle. Sara’s use of statistics shocked her audience. Sara was followed by second speaker and runner up, James Reid, who asked the audience to question power, arguing that questioning power leads to progress. Third speaker, Campbell Walker, interestingly questioned the harmful cycles our brain can get into as it is constantly fed information. To conclude, fourth speaker and winner of the competition, Callum Wigston, argued that it is necessary to change the value of sun culture in Australia. Callum opened with an anecdote that gripped the audience about the harsh reality of sun exposure, and from that moment held the connection with his audience by engaging them with questions.
Congratulations to each speaker for their contribution and efforts.
