2022 School Magazine

JUNIOR AND SENIOR MERLE WEAVER

B risbane Girls Grammar School has a long and proud history of encouraging young women to use the power of their voices to inspire others, and this is nowhere more evident than in the Merle Weaver Public Speaking competition. Merle Weaver was a teacher at Girls Grammar on three different occasions, and very kindly made a bequest to the School for both the Junior and Senior competitions. For 2022, the competition prompt was ‘Generations’, a potentially divisive term as, once spoken, tension rises. Sides are chosen. Lines are drawn in the sand. In a time when we can reach out to someone on the other side of the world in nanoseconds, it seems that the generational divide—the absence of connection—has never been greater. However, in a somewhat contradictory way, the term also refers to inspiration, creation, and drive: to generate that which was not evident before. The participants of both the Junior and Senior competitions took this prompt and crafted powerful evocative speeches that truly inspired all who had the

pleasure of listening. Miss Kathryn Talbot ENGLISH TEACHER AND MERLE WEAVER COORDINATOR

THE 2022 JUNIOR MERLE WEAVER PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION: COMPETITORS AND TOPICS

HOUSE

NAME

TOPIC

Beanland

Georgie Falting

Generations Divide: What Can We Do?

England

Ellen Baek

Is It Really Their Fault? The Psychology Behind Generating Prejudice

Gibson

Dorothy Rae Iha Agrawal (winner)

The Passion Problem: Generating Purpose to Inspire and Sustain

The Cost of Having a Head Start

Griffith

Hirschfeld

Sophia Manique

Lessons Of the Past and the Possibilities for Gen Z

Lilley

Faith Scott

Is Resilience Nature or Nurture?

Mackay

Isobel Payman

Our Voice: The Most Powerful Weapon Against Injustice

O’Connor

Liv Evans

‘Who Can Create, But the Divine?’ The Power and Inherent Humanity in Ideation

Woolcock

Molly Cooper

Choosing The Right Door: Breaking Generational Expectations and Finding Your Way

102 | BRISBANE GIRLS GRAMMAR SCHOOL 2022

THE 2022 SENIOR MERLE WEAVER PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION: COMPETITORS AND TOPICS

HOUSE

NAME

TOPIC

Beanland

Ashmitha Murali

Internalised Racism: Fighting the Enemy Inside

England

Emilia Arba

Everyone's an Amateur, and That's Pretty Great

Gibson

Camille Cahill

LGBTQ Rights: Why We Fight, and Who We Are Still Fighting For

Griffith

Emma Armitage-Ho New Generations: Starting Over or Continuing a Legacy

Scarlett McLellan (winner)

Boiling Water or Bubble Wrap: The Problem with Gen Z’s Conflicting Coping Mechanisms

Hirschfeld

Lilley

Isla Fisher

The Freedom of Being Forgotten

Mackay

Emma-Rose Neil

Building Better Monsters: How Cold Intelligence is Damaging Our Society

O’Connor

Lucy Fraser

The Dynasty Plague: Clearing the Debris

Woolcock

Johanna Conomos

Why It's Time to Abandon ‘Generations’