Journal: Friday, March 3, 2006

Yesterday we began our annual 8th grade assessment presentations, and they were conducted gracefully and intelligently by the students. In fact, as I am year after year, I was quite astonished by the poise of the young people during these demanding exercises. To stand with composure and deportment before your classmates and a group of adult judges and deliver a twelve-minute presentation and then answer challenging questions is far from an easy task. However, the young presenters never seriously faltered, never let fear overwhelm them, never gave the impression that they were anything but accomplished, experienced public speakers. I asked some especially difficult questions, and each student reacted in a surprisingly self-assured manner. Several students responded immediately, several waited many seconds while they coolly developed their answer, and several even asked me politely for time to mull over the question. It was impressive, as though I had suddenly been transported to a senior high school classroom. As I always do, I loved the combined atmosphere of dread and buoyancy in the room during the performances. While they listened to their classmates perform and waited their turn, the kids were both terrified and thrilled, both nervous and enthusiastic. It was like waiting in line for the roller coaster: they were eager to experience the thrills but terrified of the possible disasters. Yesterday there were no disasters, only polished and charming performances by some remarkably sophisticated teenagers.