By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
In terms of public speaking, there have been some firsts this fall at Burlington High School.
It’s the first time BHS has offered an honors level of Basic Public Speaking – and also the first time the high school has participated in the Voice of Democracy Audio Essay competition.
In total, the school submitted 39 entries into the contest, which assigns students a common topic and then asks them to write and record a CD of a 3-5 minute speech.
BHS teacher Matt Nie found out this week that his students managed to gain recognition on at least the district level, as VFW Voice of Democracy District Chairman Michael Enger set up an awards ceremony for Tuesday, Dec. 17.
“They’re high-achieving students,” Nie said. “This is their first exposure to a formal speech class.”
While Enger has not revealed any results, Nie said he was impressed by the body of work submitted by the 39 students, which addressed the prompt of, “Why I’m Optimistic About Our Nation’s Future.”
“I was impressed by two things,” Nie said. “First, this year’s prompt…they addressed that prompt in the middle of the government shutdown, where they would’ve had every reason to be cynical.
“Second, I was impressed by the dedication that they took not just to writing the essay, but actually having to speak and record that essay.”
All students had to independently record the CDs. Both the essays and the CDs were submitted.
Nie added Tuesday that the class is trying to do a lot outside of the classroom in terms of civic responsibility on top of simply learning how to speak in public. The students’ next assignment is a speech to try and convince classmates which charity to donate to during the holiday season.
All students will be donating $5, and the two sections will pick the cause best argued in the speech. The money will then be donated to the chosen cause.
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