Winsor Debaters Earn Coveted “Top School” at IISPSC

Winsor won “Top American School” and “Top School” at the International Independent School Public Speaking Championships (IISPSC). Nika Bigelow ’25, Theo Zarrow ’26, and Emily Zhang ’25 represented Winsor’s Speech and Debate Team at the four-day competition held October 17–20 in Bermuda. The annual event, colloquially called “Internationals” by those on the speech and debate circuit, is a very challenging competition with over 100 top speakers from 34 different schools across the world.  

Speakers are required to enter three competitions at IISPSC. While all three students competed in Impromptu Speaking and Interpretive Reading, Nika and Emily additionally competed in Persuasive Speaking while Theo added After Dinner Speaking to her lineup. After three days of powerhouse scoring, Nika, Theo, and Emily each made it to the finals in two of their three events. 

Ultimately, Nika finished 14th overall in the speaker ranking. Emily won the Impromptu Speaking competition, tied for third in overall speaker ranking, and also tied for the coveted “Top American Speaker” award. In a stunning finish, Theo won the After Dinner Speaking Competition and finished fifth overall, earning her a berth at the 2025 Worlds Speech and Debate competition this spring in Malaysia.

“They were wonderful to work with all summer,” said longtime Speech and Debate Advisor Jean Berg, who worked with each student individually, meeting at least once and sometimes twice a week on Zoom during summer break. “Ned and I are proud of Emily, Nika and Theo, and elated by the awards and the well-deserved accolades they received at Internationals” she added. Ms. Berg coaches the team with fellow Debate and Speech Advisor and English Faculty Ned Henningsen.

This is Winsor’s first time winning “Top School” at IISPSC.

The delegation’s remarkable achievements at IISPSC come on the heels of impressive appearances at Worlds in 2023 and 2024. Read more about Winsor’s appearance at IISPSC in 2023. Over the years, Winsor women have gone on to the prestigious International and World competitions in Argentina, Botswana, Lithuania, Australia, South Africa, Cyprus, London, the US, Canada, and more.

Congratulations to this year’s incredible trio—Nika, Theo, and Emily!