More than a Speech Contest 

A few weeks ago, our oldest elementary students participated in the city of Alameda's speech contest, which is the culmination of the Season of Nonviolence. The purpose of the Season of Nonviolence is to focus attention on the philosophy of attaining peace through nonviolent action as demonstrated by legendary leaders as Gandhi, King, Jr., Chavez, Mandela, and the Dalai Lama. You would have to understand the magnitude of this endeavor, as we take care in the concept of 'competition' in Montessori education, emphasizing the need to look at one's own progress and goals, without peer comparative analysis. Our students have not competed in any face-to-face events, and yet it is important that in our preparation for 'real world' experiences, we expose them to the outer community. This speech contest was one such event, and our two middle school students were entering the contest along with students from the other Middle schools in Alameda. I absolutely love 'things local' (especially theater and book readings), and I have supported the Alameda speech contest for years. But this one was close to my heart, because of our connection.

Stephanie Eisenberg Todd, a parent at the Taylor campus, is a debate coach, on faculty at Chabot College in the Communications Department. She offered time to our students, reading their speeches as they evolved, giving tips and coaching them through the process until the day of the speech. I gave tips on the sidelines through the process, including how they needed to limit their information to 1-2 pages to place on the podium. I sat with bated breath as names were placed in a box and pulled out to determine who was to go up first.

It was Rafael Sifuentes, one of our students, who is a personality dichotomy - shy and yet opinionated, daring and yet mindful. I looked to see if Rafa had limited his notes to 1-2 sheets, as I waited for him to place them on the podium. He walked up - nothing in his hands, turned around in front of the podium and faced the audience. My jaw dropped, and I could tell that my breathing had changed. Oh my god - he is going to speak without his notes! You'd have to appreciate that when I approached Rafa about this idea, he looked at me as though I had asked him if he wanted to walk the plank. And yet, here was Rafa (looking shy and nervous), but speaking out from his mind and heart - and it was amazing. Other students spoke, and the information was wonderful for all of them. If I am correct, they all spoke from the podium. Next up, was Gabriel Enyinwa, our second student. Gabriel had note cards in his hands. When Gabriel practiced with me, I recall that when the note cards fell to the floor in the staff room, and Gabriel said, "I lost my order!", I suggested to him that he, too, use a single sheet of paper to place on the podium. When we arrived, his mother said he chose to keep his note cards anyway and had them numbered. However, true to adolescent personality, Gabriel walked up, looked at Rafa, and then put his note cards on the podium, turned around in front of the podium and just spoke. There are those moments with children, especially older children, when you have to 'give it up' (they have decided that intrinsically, they know more than the adult), step back and allow them to do what they feel they should do. So when student #2 donned his notes, I thought, 'ok - they have decided they can do this - put your heart back into its place, sit back and enjoy the ride'. Gabriel spoke with confidence and certainty, commensurate with who he is as a person. The judges went back to deliberate the four possible winners, and I could see that the outcome was not the critical piece for either of them. They were thrilled that they had accomplished something. It was a rite of passage. I knew that they were prepared to move forward, whenever they chose - to be out in a larger world.

The wonderful thing, was that Gabriel and Rafa placed 2nd and 4th place, respectively - students from our tiny Elementary/Middle School program amid students from the other middle schools citywide. We do amazing work in our elementary program, so I was surprised, but not shocked. Ana Bagtas, who hosted the Season of Nonviolence Speech Contest, sent me an email which said: "Thank you so much for ... sending Montessori students to compete for the event.  I was blown away by the caliber, wisdom, and poise of the students, which is testimony to your teaching and how well you prepared them for this challenge."

However, what amazed me most, was two things: Gabriel and Rafa were thrilled that they 'placed' and I saw no evidence of sadness over how they placed - they spoke of their success in participation. Moreover, when the event was over, unprompted - Gabriel and Rafael went over to each of the other students. They introduced themselves, congratulated them on their speeches, and exchanged information to meet with them at some future date. That made me proud. It spoke to the building of character, which is what we hope for in Montessori education. We know the value of the academic rigor in a Montessori environment. We appreciate the critical thinking 'push back' that occurs in students, as they think about what they think about. We know that Aristotle was correct, when he said, "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." But underpinning all of that, is the critical need to set moral values and strong character develop as complements to scholarship.

My great thanks to their teachers: Fatma, Kwang, Laurie, Steve and Johanny. Great thanks to Stephanie Todd (you rock!), and to the families of Gabriel and Rafael for being their village and extending that village to the MESA community.

With love,

Cindy