Empowering Students to Develop and Share their Unique Voice with the World The Stoneleigh-Burnham School (SBS) Voice & Empowerment Certificate Program is a deep dive into the practice of discovering a student’s authentic voice and training them to deliver their unique point of view to the world. Over the course of one year, our students become skilled advocates for their own opinion, knowledge, and values. Why VOICE10? Effective Leaders Communicate with Authenticity Year after year, we have seen an increased need for the educational process to create students who can clearly and effectively express themselves in a way that is compelling, authentic, and engaging across a broad range of audiences. At the core of effective leadership is a successful expression of one’s self and ideas. VOICE10 is designed to leverage SBS’s combined success in training students with the skills of debate and public speaking with our rigorous academic preparation for life in college and beyond. The VOICE10 Difference Based on the SBS Grade 10 curriculum Grade 10 is a signature year at SBS. Our program is centered on a thoughtfully designed combination of rhetoric, cognitive skills, and identity development. The combination not only prepares students for the advanced challenges of engaging in and with abstract thought, but also prepares our students to advocate for themselves and others with enthusiastic confidence. Our students lean forward into the journey of continuous learning.
To earn the full certificate, students must participate in and successfully complete these programmatic areas in addition to the standard Grade 10 curriculum at SBS: • VOICE10 specific courses (required) • VOICE10 Elective Stream • Debate & Public Speaking • Master Class • Capstone Project Grade 10 Experience Each accepted applicant enrolls as a full-time SBS student, participating in our highly impactful Stoneleigh-Burnham School curriculum. VOICE10 is designed to fulfill the student’s Grade 10 requirements while immersing them in our program’s developmentally appropriate skills and development with a particular focus on rhetoric as a cornerstone of our English curriculum. The VOICE10 Elective Stream These trimester electives, specifically designed for this program, are thematically connected with voice and empowerment, with a focus on skill development in writing and speaking. Debate & Public Speaking Students will participate in our prestigious Debate & Public Speaking Society. To date, twenty-three SBS students have ranked and participated in the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships, most recently in South Africa in 2023. Master Class SBS’s VOICE10 Master Class is a year-long series focused on individual and small group instruction exclusive to VOICE10 participants as well as community-wide opportunities to learn from leaders in their fields. Special coaching and training will include topics such as voice projection, body language, as well as improvisational techniques. The community speaker series will feature women (including alumnae) who are engineers, CEOs, scientists, architects, consultants, lawyers, teachers, entrepreneurs, human rights activists, and more. Capstone Presentation Each student will create, research, and deliver a project or presentation to the SBS community.
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