The Williston English department hosted its second schoolwide speech competition during Trimester 2, and four stellar speakers made the finals of the contest.

The winner of this year’s speech contest was Gabby Kim ’28, while Alice Brashares ’26, Dannielle Lu ’27, and Luo Yi Zhang ’29 rounded out the all-female final four. The theme for this year’s contest was “home” and what it meant to the speaker, and all four finalists came at the theme from different angles.

The competition started in individual English classrooms before winter break. Students each had to present to their class, and then one winner was selected from each class to advance to the next level. Students then gave their speeches in class assemblies, with each grade picking one finalist to advance to the final round. In the finals, all four competitors gave their speeches, then a group of faculty judges deliberated for a winner.

Kim’s speech stood out the most to our faculty judges, after she gave a stirring recount of the 2018 false missile alert in Hawaii, and what it was like for the young teenager on a beach surrounded by strangers.

“That aloha spirit would carry me through not just in the heat of the moment, but in the events leading up to it and the sweet relief after,” Kim said during her speech. “Later that day, I collapsed to my floor in a pile of exhaustion. And through that blur of salt and emotion, I realized something very substantial: That home is created through recognition, vulnerability. The moment you see someone as human and show part of yourself back. Because at the end of the day, we are all just humans trying to swim afloat in the sea of life.”

In addition to giving the chance for students to tell a story, the speech competition helps prepare all Williston students for public speaking engagements—big and small. Throughout the competition, kids pushed their boundaries, gaining experience in organizing and communicating information for maximum impact, and maybe even picking up some insights about themselves along the way.

The speeches can be viewed on our YouTube channel. Read about last year’s contest and winner Onion Quan ’26 here.