Central High School students spoke — rather than wrote — a page in their school's history Monday night just beneath a notable historical site: the balcony where John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln.
Ten students who gave original speeches and memorized others from Lincoln, abolitionist Frederick Douglass and President Barack Obama at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., are members of the first school to pilot an oratory class through the theater's education program.
Sarah Jencks, Ford's Theatre's director of education programming, said the partnership with Central began after the theater brought "One Destiny," a traveling performance about the night of Lincoln's death, to Central High in fall 2007.
A speech workshop with Central speech teacher Kate Conrad's class following the performance led to a conversation with her and Jencks about getting schools involved in theater education. Jencks said the goal of Ford's is to teach about Lincoln's presidency through theater and education.
"So often we read history in a textbook and it doesn't feel very real, but when you speak those words, you embody those people," Jencks said.
"One Destiny" actor Stephen Schmidt and Conrad coached the students on proper diction, using rhetorical questions and paying attention to volume. The class also watched Obama's speeches, had a Frederick Douglass impersonator visit and participated in competitions such as the Frederick Douglass Oratorical Contest in November 2008.
"No matter what you do, the ability to stand in front a bunch of people you don't know and be fairly comfortable is an unbelievable gift," Schmidt said.
Jencks said she hopes students gain confidence to make changes in their communities through speech.
Student Paige Telesford's speech, "We The People," called on people to stop senseless violence in her community and asked what her generation will contribute to society. Paige, 15, of Capitol Heights testified how her brother, Quentin Maurice Davidson Jr., 16, was caught in the "wrong place at the wrong time" when he was shot and killed in Temple Hills in 1999.
In a video Schmidt and Conrad filmed to chart a year of student progress, Schmidt was seen suggesting Paige share more about her brother's death. Videos were presented Monday showing students and instructors critiquing speeches and student testimonies about how their speech skills improved.
Jencks said the video was necessary to create a format for how other schools can replicate Central's class. She hopes to expand the program to other area middle and high schools with teachers like Conrad willing to take the program on.
Regina Williams, 17, of Capitol Heights said Schmidt taught her the importance of eye contact, body language and diction. She constantly rewrote her speech and practiced about 10 times in front of her classmates.
Regina's original speech, "Is the NAACP Still Relevant," told why she thought more organization was still necessary to promote racial harmony despite the recent election of a black president. Regina cited a school fight that broke out between Latino students and black students and the Jena 6 incident in Jena, La., where six black students were charged with attempted murder after a fight with a white student in 2006.
"I feel as though when you write a strong speech and you give a good delivery, you accomplish something," she said.
E-mail Natalie McGill at nmcgill@gazette.net.
