PUBLIC SPEAKING IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART

I don’t know about you, but standing in front of a roomful of people waiting to give a speech or presentation is enough to make my quaking legs turn to jelly and my throat constrict to the point of suffocation.  But this is apparently not the case for many of our middle school students.

The Mennonite Schools Speech Meet is coming on March 19^th and in preparation for the interschool competition, our students were vying for an opportunity to represent Penn View at West Fallowfield Christian School in Lancaster.  29 Penn View students will make the trip this year with Penn View’s team.

I’ll give you a little idea what was going on when I stopped by the auditorium to take some notes on practice day.

Cedar (playing the part of the CRAZY White Queen with wild hand gestures flying) and Jill (playing the part of Alice and wearing a sparkly silver tiara) were fully engaged in their dialogue.  They were rehearsing lines from the script of Adventures in Alice in Wonderland.

A magnificent paper-mâché leg of lamb was resting in a tin pot on the stairs while waiting for its moment on the stage.  Right on cue, The White Queen lifted the attention-grabbing mutton and began introducing said leg of lamb to poor Alice (who was getting annoyed with the queen’s eccentricities).  Alice says, “I don’t want to meet anyone else,” to which the crazy queen responds, “Don’t be shy Alice.  You’ve got to learn to meet people.”  And on she goes to introduce the exasperated girl to the slab of meat- and vice versa.  Seriously folks, you can’t make this stuff up.

Andrew and Christian were practicing some dialogue as well.  Andrew was playing the part of everyone’s favorite ark-builder- Noah, while Christian was apparently playing the part of God.  Now THAT must have been QUITE an application process.

There were puppet shows and humorous discourses being rehearsed.  The teacher Mrs. Painter shared that most of the students end up choosing a piece of writing which contains humor.  

Mrs. Painter and her handmade puppet!

Several students selected a monologue rather than joining forces with a classmate.  I find this incredibly brave.  I’m fairly certain that in my own middle school years I’d have chosen a large crowd of assistants. I'd have been hiding my blushing face securely behind the puppet stage as I sacrificed only my hands (covered by the pathetic sock creature I’d have foraged from the depths of my unsuspecting sister’s drawer).  

My scapegoat (I mean sock puppet) would have taken in the terrifying view of the spectators with his awesomely steadfast button eyes while I cowered spinelessly behind the curtain.  Trust me; this pitiful scenario would have been preferable to my risking a dramatic full-on fainting episode while attempting an ill-fated monologue.  

But I digress…. (Shocking, I know).

I ended my visit to practice day by listening to Bryanna’s monologue about her imaginary experiences in cow-tipping.  “Have you ever tried to nudge a cow?” she asked nobody in particular as she practiced her lines. With a knowing glance she launched her own deadpan response.  “It’s like hitting a brick wall….”  She went on to describe the painful injuries sustained after succumbing to peer pressure and allegedly engaging the cow.  A contrite Bryanna closed her remarks by promising her adoring invisible audience that she’d never bother a sleeping cow again.

It was fun to go back the next day to watch Bryanna and Ellie give their presentations.  Both were amazing.  

As a person who for years used her dishwasher as a storage space for alphabetized spices, Ellie’s monologue about the virtues of putting things in order was music to my ears.  Oh, how I love compulsive people and the tidiness they create.  My favorite part of her monologue was definitely “I am not the one in need of therapy people! It is you - the cluttered and the lazy- who need to wake up and examine yourselves!”  BOOM! 

Kudos to our English teachers and Penn View’s helpful coach Kendra Rittenhouse for helping our students master the art of recitation, gain confidence, and lift courageous voices as they stand before a crowd. 

Blue, red, or white ribbons will fly home with each Speech Meet competitor at the conclusion of this extraordinary celebration of speech.  

But the best thing our students will gain is the realization that they have a voice and that they can use it with increasing confidence.