The 2025 Chronicle

TOASTMASTERS

of pitch, tone, pace and expressive gesture secured him Best Impromptu Speaker of the evening. As our June meeting traditionally falls in the middle of exams, we usually choose to make it an impromptu-only evening. Mr Gruijters, acting as topics master for the night, ably led even the more reserved speakers to deliver mature and fluent speeches. As the year unfolded, seasoned speakers such as Simon Bail es, Luvuyo Tsibani, Oliver Bruyns and Boitumelo Motsepe con tinued to impress with speeches that were poised, insightful and frequently highly amusing. A perennial highlight of our calendar is the parents-and-sons evening, this year themed “I Did It My Way”. Two brave fathers stepped forward to challenge the boys in the impromptu sec tion, delivering excellent speeches of their own. However, they were ultimately outshone by outstanding impromptu perfor mances from Tinashe Simelane and Jonathan Boesak. The evening closed on a high note when, for the second consecu tive meeting, Sergeant-at-Arms William Russon had the entire room in raucous laughter – a fitting finale to a successful and joy-filled year. In the closing moments of the final meeting, the following tro phies were awarded: • Dudley Forde Trophy for Promotion of Excellence: Daniel French • John Pluke Trophy for Most Improved Speaker: William Russon • Jack Crutchley Trophy for Excellence in Public Speaking: Aras Apteker The interviews for prospective candidates have been undertak en, and with exciting talent coming into the society in 2026, I leave with the knowledge that Toastmasters will continue to be the best, most prestigious society in the school. Written by Mrs Mary McMichael

Staff Members in Charge: Mr Dominic Gruijters, Mrs Mary McMichael, Mr Chris van der Berg Chairman: William Russon Deputy Chairman: Aras Apteker Secretary: Makena Githiri

The Toastmasters society launched the year in memorable style, celebrating its 300th meeting with an impressive spread of tem pura prawns, lamb rack and a chocolate birthday cake complete with candles. The festivities set the tone for an engaging evening, highlight ed by William Russon’s prepared speech in which he cleverly embraced the theme, “The Oldest Trick in the Book”. His hu morous allusions ensured he held the full attention of every boy in the room. The new B Block members were first to deliver their icebreaker speeches, setting a remarkably high standard for the months to follow. A core philosophy of our Toastmasters programme is growth through progression. Each November the committee invites potential speakers – most commonly from the C Block group – not solely on the basis of existing talent, but on the po tential to challenge themselves, take risks and persevere. We have long believed that the best development emerges when boys are willing to push their boundaries and embrace a little vulnerability. Although our evenings follow a structured format, the content is always wonderfully varied. Our second meeting in March, themed “Breaking the Mould”, provided a perfect opportuni ty for experimentation. Aras Apteker’s passionate and unre strained delivery once again earned him the award for Best Pre pared Speech, whereas Makena Githiri’s controlled command