Hockaday students team up to address writing, speaking insecurities
By Emily Zeigfinger
Two rising Hockaday seniors, Sophie Zhan and Misha “Mimi” Davison, have teamed up to create Speech 4 Each.
The organization helps students who experience anxiety in public speaking and writing.
Zhan, the executive director and president of Speech 4 Each, started participating in mock trial and speech competitions in high school. When she developed a lisp after getting lingual braces during her sophomore year, Zhan’s confidence in public speaking waned.
“I became insecure to talk during speech and in class, so I gradually just talked less and kept overthinking. Having a lisp opened my eyes to how other people who have speech insecurities feel,” she said.
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Davison’s inspiration to help with Speech 4 Each was realized after making her own book as a child.
“When I was maybe 10 years old, my school created a program where we could write our own books that were shared with bookshops and libraries,” she said. “I thought it was so cool to have my work recognized. I have realized how important it is that kids leave school with both confidence in their reading skills and confidence in their writing skills. Writing books has provided them with the ability to share their work with other students.”
From there, Davison founded her own club, Young Authors, at Hockaday, which operates through Hockaday’s Writing Center. With other students providing illustrations, Zhan and Davison collaborated directly with Speech 4 Each, and the two students focused on Stephen C. Foster Elementary, where they’d both volunteered.
“I noticed many of the students spoke less English and sometimes felt insecure. It was like a lightbulb moment for me. I knew that Mimi volunteered at Foster as well and practiced writing skills with the kids. We combined her love of writing and mine of speech,” Zhan said.
This past school year, Zhan and Davison helped plan a speech competition for the students at Stephen C. Foster Elementary. Davison collaborated with students to assist them in making their own books, which they presented to their teachers in speech format. Modeled after original oratory, a type of speech where someone presents a topic, the oration helped the students grow more confident in both speaking and writing traits.
“We value communication to make things run smoothly because our club is led by students. I coordinate getting illustrations from students with teachers at Foster, and with the Writing Center. Sophie and I work together to create an engaging curriculum for the kids,” Davison said.
Each has experienced the impact the club has had on their lives as well as its effect on the students at Foster.
“We have created a community that builds the students up. I have noticed some of the shyer students have become more confident and less timid. On the day of the competition, the students were so excited that they started running toward the library to perform,” Zhan said.
With their combined skills in speaking and writing, the two high schoolers have been determined to make a difference in the lives of students who can benefit from their guidance in how to overcome obstacles and successfully utilize oratory and written communication skills to properly convey their messages to an audience.
Davison hopes the organization can expand further to help more children.
“Our club has helped me realize that many of the world’s problems impact kids too,” she said, adding, “I hope we keep growing, because my view of the world has definitely expanded.”
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