Welcome

On Sunday, October 2, four Stoneleigh-Burnham students competed in various events as the School hosted an Invitational Public Speaking Tournament, with Stella ‘24 taking first in the Individual Overall for the tournament. 

The Invitational tournament marked the return of the School to hosting public events, as the pandemic protocols forced tournaments and their participants to compete remotely for the past two years.  

Remarking on the event and our talented competitors, Assistant Head of School Shawn Durrett recalled a recent conversation with one of our students, “Stella reminded me that this event was the first time the team will have competed in person.  It is pretty remarkable what all of our students have accomplished.“

Thirty-four competitors from 9 New England schools, including BB&N, Hotchkiss, and Deerfield, were on campus for the DANEIS-sanctioned event.  Many of these schools have run well-established and accomplished Debate and Public Speaking programs, making the success of our students even more special.    

The event also marked the first with Stoneleigh-Burnham’s newly hired Debate and Public Speaking coach, Jayne Benjulian, a former head speechwriter for Apple and accomplished executive speech consultant.      

With such an outstanding start to the Debate and Public Speaking season and the addition of our new coach, we look forward to reporting on more remarkable results in the future. 

Competing for Stoneleigh-Burham
Leila ‘25
Stella ‘24
Summer ‘24
Zoe ‘25

Stoneleigh-Burnham Tournament Results
Individual Overall
Stella '24, First Place

Interpretive Reading 
Stella ‘24, First Place

Impromptu
Stella ‘24, Second Place

After Dinner
Leila ‘25, Second Place
Summer ’24, Third Place