Featured Story
Building Confidence & Character: Eighth Grade Declamations
On Tuesday, June 6, eighth-grade students and their families gathered for St. Luke’s Eighth Grade Declamations and Celebration of Learning. The annual Declamations are an important Middle School milestone that serves students well in their future academic and professional endeavors. Guided by Middle School English Department Chair Kirsten Tobler, and Eighth Grade English Teachers Ty Wieland and Katie Boorse, students learn the challenges and power of a well-planned, practiced, and delivered presentation. The type of training and guidance students receive in the run up to their respective Declamation is an experience most people won’t have until much later in their lives, if at all.
Over six weeks, students dig deep to find a story with personal meaning and work diligently to craft a piece with the intention of sharing it with an audience. These stories are rooted in reflection and demonstrate a new understanding of self and one’s personal values. Throughout the program, students master public speaking techniques, including eye contact, body language, enunciation, pacing, and projection, while building confidence, awareness, and character.
Read and listen to the students’ Declamations here.
St. Luke’s School is a secular (non-religious), private school in New Canaan, CT for grades 5 through 12 serving over 35 towns in Connecticut and New York. Our exceptional academics and diverse co-educational community foster students’ intellectual and ethical development and prepare them for top colleges. St. Luke’s Center for Leadership builds the commitment to serve and the confidence to lead.
