Henrico high schoolers run global nonprofit to teach public speaking

Two years ago, a trio of local high school freshmen taught a few dozen students the fundamentals of public speaking. Today, their nonprofit, SPEAK, has taught more than 1,000 students across the globe.

Public speaking is one of the most common fears — ahead of death, heights and bugs. That’s why this group of teens set out on a mission to help people overcome that fear.

Ayush Patel, one of the nonprofit’s directors, said he struggled with public speaking in elementary and middle school and was inspired to help others experiencing the same thing.

“We know what it’s like to feel nervous and anxious, so we wanted to help make an impact on the future generation,” said Patel, a Henrico resident attending Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School.

SPEAK formed from the ground up in August 2019 with the goal to alleviate the challenges younger students face with public speaking. The teenagers learned along the way how to operate a nonprofit and recruit volunteers.

“I’ve seen kids who are extremely smart and gifted but unable to present,” said Ronit Jain, a rising senior at Maggie L. Walker Governor's School. “We wanted to help eliminate that.”

Since the onset of the pandemic, SPEAK has halted in-person classes. But the shift to virtual gave the opportunity to reach a global audience, said Abhay Duggirala, a Henrico resident attending Maggie L. Walker Governor's School.

During the past year, students in Kenya, India and the Philippines have participated in SPEAK’s online courses.

“It enables different communities to come together to learn more about public speaking,” said Alagappan Sellappan, a student of Henrico High School's International Baccalaureate Program and SPEAK’s director of technology.

Classes are taught by high-schoolers, and students participating in the courses range from third to eighth-graders, depending upon the class. SPEAK began with public speaking classes but has since expanded into language classes — Spanish and Arabic — along with debate and essay writing classes.

Each class usually hosts between 10 and 20 students, and teachers imitate a classroom environment.

The nonprofit’s 10 directors, seven of whom are Henrico residents, train the teachers on how to lead classes. All rising seniors, the group intends for the nonprofit to reach a self-sustaining ability, so that it can continue operating after the directors graduate high school and move on to college, Ronit said.

To learn more about SPEAK, visit www.speakforyouth.org.

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Anna Bryson is the Henrico Citizen's education reporter and a Report for America corps member. Make a tax-deductible donation to support her work, and RFA will match it dollar for dollar.