Public Speaking

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• Every Student at Our School Has a Voice and is Encouraged to Use It

  Our Public Speaking signature program has the annual MacLane Poetry Recitation as its most visible growth experience. Begun by the school’s first Headmaster, David T. Maclane, in 1957 and held every year since, the MacLane Recitation is The Country School’s oldest tradition.
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  For this annual celebration of both the written and the spoken word, every student in the school memorizes a poem and recites it in front of classmates, teachers, and parents. PreSchool and PreK students learn poems and recite them in small groups. In the Middle School, the recitation is juried, and a panel of outside judges selects a winner from among the finalists. Public Speaking takes place on a daily basis at The Country School in both larger and smaller ways. Our youngest students use their voices during Circle Time and for parents and other guests during celebrations of learning. At Lower School and All-School Meetings, they watch other students make announcements and may volunteer to make announcements themselves.
  
  The voice preparation and confidence developed in the early years grows stronger each year, with 4th and 5th Graders running the weekly WTCS Radio Show, and then continuing on and culminating as 7th and 8th Graders assume leadership for the school, become captains of sports teams, run service initiatives, and participate on clubs that require excellent public speaking skills. The value of our public speaking experiences has been demonstrated by the performance of Country School students at outside-of-school competitions; The voice preparation and confidence developed in the early years grows stronger each year, with 4th and 5th Graders running the weekly WTCS Radio Show, and then continuing on and culminating as 7th and 8th Graders assume leadership for the school, become captains of sports teams, run service initiatives, and participate on clubs that require excellent public speaking skills.
  
  The value of our public speaking experiences has been demonstrated by the performance of Country School students at outside-of-school competitions;
  
  

  • A 6th Grader was awarded best delegate at a Model UN event
  • Our Robotics Team won an award for oral presentation and communication at the state Robotics Championship
  • Two students won first and third place at a regional Spanish language spelling bee.

  
  Providing our students constant opportunities to speak publicly teaches them to convey their ideas concisely and effectively, prepares them for interviews for secondary school, college, and beyond, and allows them to make a difference in the classroom, their community, career, and life.