Debater Wins National Title and Invite to Worlds

Olivia Railton, a Grade 11 student at The Country Day School was crowned National Public Speaking and Debating Champion in Winnipeg last month, thereby qualifying for the 28th World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships March 30-April 5 for the second year in a row. Fellow debater, Grade 12 student Natalie Ganzhorn finished 5th and also qualified for Worlds for the fourth consecutive year.

Olivia won for her persuasive speech on the problems with juvenile incarceration in both Canada and the United States. In her speech she argued that “Offenders who get put in prison before the age of 18, have an 80 per cent higher chance of reoffending because they just grow to hate police officers, hate authority and hate adults – an awful situation. We need to focus on making kids better, not sticking them in jail.”

For her reading, Olivia chose a selection from The Day the Voices Stopped about a man who, after 30 years, no longer suffers from schizophrenia. She made the finals in Impromptu Speaking and Interpretive Reading. Meanwhile Natalie qualified for three finals, including for her persuasive speech on female genital mutilation, a reading taken from Emma Donoghue’s novel Room, and Impromptu Speaking.

This will be the second time in The Country Day School's history that two students not only qualified, but will be competing in the World Championships held this year at Shady Side Academy in Pittsburgh, PA. Students from independent schools in 16 countries will converge to compete within a global community in three out of four events: Impromptu Speaking, Parliamentary Debate, Interpretive Reading and either After Dinner or Persuasive Speaking.

“We are immensely proud of what Olivia and Natalie were able to accomplish again this year at Nationals,” said longtime debating coach Kerstin Wyndham-West. “We wish them well at the World Championships representing CDS on the world stage.”

CDS Students to previously qualify for Worlds:

2015 – Natalie Ganzhorn ’16 and Olivia Railton ’17 - Hong Kong, China
2014 – Natalie Ganzhorn ’16 - Druskininkai, Lithuania
2013 – Natalie Ganzhorn ’16 -Durban, South Africa
2012 – Reid Dobell ’12 (University of Toronto) - Brisbane, Australia
2011 – Lucas Regazzi ’12 (University of Toronto) - Brisbane, Australia
2010 – Victoria Sienczewski ’12 (Stanford University) - Druskininkai, Lithuania
2009 – Genevieve Laurier ’09 (Oxford University) - Reading, U.K.
2008 – Genevieve Laurier ’09 and Rachael Andrew ’09 - Winnenden, Germany
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CDS wishes to recognize and acknowledge the land on which the school operates. For thousands of years, these have been the traditional lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. We also recognize the traditional territory of the Huron-Wendat, Anishinaabe and the Haudenosaunee peoples who also shared this land.  CDS respects the relationship with these lands and recognizes that our connection can be strengthened by our continued relationship with all First Nations, by acknowledging our shared responsibility to respect and care for these lands and waters for future generations.

School Information

13415 Dufferin Street King, Ontario L7B 1K5 
(905) 833-1220 

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Founded in 1972, The Country Day School is a co-educational private school offering programs in JK-12 and located on 100 acres north of Toronto in King.