This spring, Women’s History Month found a powerful stage at Poly Prep Lower School. Now in its fourth year, the annual Women’s History Month Oratory Contest invites our youngest students to celebrate women’s stories through recitation, reflection, and performance. 

The contest began in February with more than 60 student video submissions, a testament to the enthusiasm of Poly’s young learners. For the first round of judging, which took place on Friday, April 10, in the Dance Room, 24 semifinalists, and all Early Childhood participants, were selected to perform before a panel of volunteer parents and guardians with backgrounds in arts and marketing. To ensure fairness, judges do not evaluate their own children’s grade. 

Eight students, two per grade, then advanced to the culminating event on Friday, April 24, in the Lower School Gym. Before an enthusiastic crowd of Grades 1-4 peers who listened attentively and cheered as the finalists, Octavia C. ’37, Darby G. ’37, Maren B. ’36, Rory S. ’36, Connor F. ’35, Eleanor S. ’35, Louise F ’34., and Audrey W. ’34, delivered outstanding performances of poetry and iconic speeches. The winner from each grade received a $25 gift card from Community Bookstore in Park Slope and the Grand Prize Winner, Audrey W. ’34, took home a $100 gift card, a fitting tribute for her love of reading. Her oration of a Michelle Obama speech earned her top honors.

This year’s selections ranged from Eleanor Roosevelt’s 1951 “Transcript of Speech on Human Rights” and Gloria Steinem’s “Living the Revolution” to Amanda Gorman’s “Earth Rise,” Malala Yousafzai’s famous speech at the United Nations, and “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou, among other timely, poignant works.

About the Women’s History Oratory Contest

Since its launch in 2022, the oratory contest invites students to honor women’s voices through speeches and poems of their choosing. This year’s selections felt especially meaningful as finalists connected their work to human rights, freedom, mythology, and creative expression. Participants are challenged to memorize and recite a poem or published work by or about a female author, scientist, politician, artist, or other notable figure.

Congratulations to every young orator who participated.
Your voices reflect what Women’s History Month is all about!

Finale Results

Grade 1

Octavia C. ’37, First Place
Darby G. ’37, Runner Up

Grade 2

Maren B. ’36, Tie

Rory S. ’36, Tie

Maren B. ’36 chose Harriet Tubman as her inspirational figure because she wanted to honor Tubman’s courage in leading other Black enslaved people to freedom in the American South. “I’m very much inspired by Harriet Tubman for leading slaves to freedom, and I felt inspired,” Maren said. She added that her interest began in Pre-K, when she learned a freedom song connected to that time period in class. She channeled her musical theater experience to memorize the piece, performing in front of her family before it was time for submissions.

“I chose “A Hint of Artemis” by Callimachus, from the third century B.C.,” said Rory S. ’36, who discovered her interest in Greek mythology at the age of four. “I wanted a poem about gods from Greek mythology, and I like Artemis. I like that the poem feels like a declaration of independence from a young girl to a father,” she added.

Grade 3

Connor F. ’35, First Place

Eleanor S. ’35, Runner Up

Connor F. ’35 selected Eleanor Roosevelt’s address to the United Nations for its timeless message—that human rights belong to everyone, everywhere. “I chose my speech because I feel everyone on Earth should have human rights,” he said. “Everyone on Earth deserves to be heard.”

Grade 4

Louise F. ’34, First Place
Audrey W. ’34, Grand Prize Winner