From the Classroom to the Big Stage
At Graland, students begin learning early how to share their ideas, building skills that carry with them to much bigger stages. These early experiences, whether presenting in class, performing on stage, or speaking in front of an assembly, are more than moments in time. They help students develop their voice and learn how to communicate ideas with clarity and purpose.
Years later, those same abilities continue to shape how Graland alumni show up in the world. From consulting firms and creative stages to national broadcasts and newsrooms, alumni carry forward the ability to organize their thoughts, connect with an audience, and express ideas in impactful ways.
For many, the “big stage” looks different, but the foundation remains the same.
Sophie Goldberg ’16 - Consultant
For Sophie Goldberg ’16, experiences at Graland provided repeated opportunities to practice communicating ideas, building both skill and poise over time.
One moment that stands out is presenting her invention, the Grav-WASH-ity, at the Gates Invention and Innovation Expo.
“I remember standing in front of the judges and a larger audience to pitch the idea, explaining how it worked and making the case for why it mattered,” she said. “I had to learn how to calm my nerves, how to read and engage an unfamiliar audience, and how to build a PowerPoint deck that supported my verbal presentation.”
Those early experiences shaped how she approaches communication today.
“One of the biggest benefits of Graland was having public speaking woven into the experience starting as early as Kindergarten,” she said. “That repetition made a real difference. By Middle School, speaking in front of a room felt less like something to fear and more like something I genuinely looked forward to.”
Goldberg has carried those abilities into increasingly complex settings, from leading her high school speech and debate team to presenting a technical engineering capstone at Dartmouth.
“During my senior year at Dartmouth, I presented my capstone engineering project to a panel of faculty and peers,” she said. “The project was highly technical, but I knew the audience needed to understand not just how it worked, but why it mattered to real people. In that moment, I thought back to the Gates Invention & Innovation Expo at Graland, where I first learned how to balance technical details with human impact. The setting was more advanced, but the approach was the same: explaining complex ideas in a way that felt clear, relevant, and meaningful.”
Now in her work in consulting with Boston Consulting Group, she continues to rely on that same foundation.
“Each stage got bigger, but the foundation stayed the same: know your audience and pair substance with story. Graland taught me to see communication as a craft worth developing, and that mindset has shaped every stage since.”
Scott Horsley ’81 - NPR’s Chief Economics Correspondent
Scott Horsley still remembers a moment in seventh-grade English class that required quick thinking and a willingness to step forward.
“I vividly remember taking a seventh-grade English class with Mrs. Gorham in which I was supposed to memorize and recite a poem,” he said. “I forgot to take the book home with me, so the next day I told Mrs. Gorham I wasn’t ready. She said I would get an F, but she also offered to have me go last so I could spend the class period learning the poem. I managed to learn it in time to get up and recite it.”
That experience, he recalls, was an early lesson not only in preparation but also in public speaking and perseverance.
Horsley also found an unexpected comfort level speaking in front of larger groups during his time at Graland.
“I was sometimes chosen to give an account of a team’s latest game during an all-school assembly,” he said. “I discovered that I enjoyed standing in front of people in the gym, describing the highlights of the game.”
Today, Horsley’s work as NPR’s chief economics correspondent depends on clearly communicating complex ideas to a broad audience, something he traces back to the foundational abilities he developed as a student.
“When I first got to Graland, I didn’t have any idea how to organize thoughts into a coherent argument or a five-paragraph essay,” he said. “Graland taught me how to find answers, express those answers in complete sentences, and assemble those sentences into persuasive paragraphs. That’s pretty much how I spend my days now, four and a half decades later.”
Ken Cooper ’70 - Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author and Journalist
For Ken Cooper ’70, an early experience on stage helped spark a lifelong relationship with public speaking, even if it took time to feel natural.
In ninth grade at Graland, he played the lead role in “The Mikado,” a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, a moment that remains especially memorable.
“It was a start in my being comfortable speaking before an audience, live or on television or radio,” he said.
In high school, he continued building those abilities, performing in a play and competing statewide as a member of the speech team. His career later brought him to even larger stages as a journalist, including appearances on C-SPAN. Still, finding his footing in front of an audience didn’t happen overnight.
“Frankly, it took years for me to become comfortable in front of an audience,” he said. “At my core, I’m a shy bookworm.”
Looking back, he credits Graland not just with performance opportunities but with building a strong foundation in communication.
“More generally, I think my study at Graland helped with clarity in my expression of ideas, verbally or in writing.”
Graland Country Day School
Graland Country Day School is a private school in Denver, Colorado, serving students in preschool, kindergarten, elementary, and middle school. Founded in Denver in 1927, Graland incorporates a rich, experiential learning approach in a traditional classroom setting, emphasizing the development of globally and socially conscious leaders who excel academically.
