Week Thirty Seven - The Final Countdown!

This Week

It's been a fun week for me seeing all of the students honing their debate skills and piecing together evidence from throughout the year as they prepare for our debates, which will take place next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We have been practicing all week, which has been a lot of fun. We were even lucky enough to have local attorneys Nick Subashi and Tabitha Justice (who is also a DRSS Board Member) come help students prepare for doing cross examinations. They taught them as if they were "new attorneys," explaining all of the preparation that goes into preparing for a cross examination. It was tremendously helpful and I learned a lot as well!

Practicing for the debates!

On Wednesday I was lucky enough to get to go to Sima with Ms. Chen and her students and stuff myself!

Attorneys Nick Subashi and Tabitha Justice (also a DRSS Board Member) came to Ms. Reid's class to help us prepare for our cross examinations on Wednesday! Thanks so much to both of them!

Practicing constructive speeches and cross examinations during class on Thursday.

I also did bike to work day with Ms. Poppaw, Ms. Schultz, and the Bollingers. Lots of fun!

Next Week

We have an impressive array of judges who will be deciding which team better proves that the 20th century was (or was not) a century of progress. This group will include college professors (and even a dean), school board members, local council members from the City of Kettering, and business partners. It should be a lot of fun!

Next week, of course, will be the end of our academic year (before STEMmersion starts), and I am looking forward to watching the students show off everything they've learned this year in front of our judges. As local attorney Nick Subashi explained to our students this weekend, he still practices a lot before he steps into a court room for a trial. I hope students take this lesson to heart and realize that it's true that "practice makes perfect," and that they spend at least some of their weekend practicing their delivery.

Have a great weekend!

~Mr. Grieve