Literary is the New Forensics

The great Literary team of Pierce County High School, finishing first in their region, besting eight other schools.

Back a long time ago, in a state far way from here, we also had Literary.  But we didn't call it that.  We called it Forensics,

And no, it is not related to it's more familiar definition,  It's not about CSIs and criminal investigations conducted in a scientific manner.  Gus Grissom of CSU, or Leroy Gibbs in NCIS,  It is rooted in the Greek, referring to forum, and is about speaking contests the Greeks organized in order to develop public speaking skills.  Because they believed that good public peaking was key to a well developed democracy.

I attended a high school where Forensics was a strong and vibrant program.  I competed in it all four years I was in high school, going to the State Tournament twice.  We had an excellent coach, and he helped us perform our best.  I did something called Declaration the first year, which was a category for Freshman to give an oral presentation on a short speech of their own, advocating a cause or "declaring" an important point or issue.  The other years I competed in Humorous Interpretation.  That may seem not as sophisticated a skill as some of the other contests, but it served me well in learning how to charm audiences and stay interesting, and helped prepare me for my lifelong participation in community theater.

Sometimes, it feels like a lot of school is focused on athletics.  There is a lot of hoopla and community support centered around the achievements of athletic teams, particularly on high school football.  This can be a very good thing.  Community bonding is an important part of teaching student to take pride in where they live, and develop a sense of civic pride and responsibility.  The Straits come from a long line of non-athletes, having little coordination and zero natural ability, and my youngest son, Benjamin, is no exception.  But his participation in Middle School Pep Band has given him a way to plug into the sport experience in school, and become a part of  it all.  That may be on e of the great parts of athletic events in public schools, particularly football, as it allows for so many ways for those who are not on the athletic field to feel like they are part of it.

Study after study has shown the tremendous, disproportionate value of extra curriculars in public schools.  Those who participate in them do better in school, and in life.  They learn more, engage more, take more pride in themselves, and their community, their country, and the entire planet. I know for myself, I struggle to remember much form any particular classroom, but I remember well those Forensics contests, the plays and musicals, the Student Council, the feel and spirit of the sporting events.

And yet.

And yet there are those who look at cutting school budgets, and the first place they look at is the non-athletic extra-curriculars, as if they were the most unnecessary and disposable part of going to school, instead of the very core of it.  The first and foremost responsibility of public education is not to be a tech school training for a specific job, or a place to warehouse kids to keep them off the streets.   The major function of public schools in civic, to teach young people to be knowledgeable, functioning participants in the greatest experiment in democracy in the history of mankind. When we shove aside these extra-curriculars, we are shoving aside democracy itself.  Whether it's called Forensics or Literary, the idea of developing better and more confident public speakers, is not just a fun little aside to occupy the students,  It represents the very core of why we have public schools,

Congratulations to the Pierce County High School Literary team and their extraordinary achievement in Region, and thank you to The Blackshear Times for making it a front page story,  It is a great relief considering some of the recent headlines, necessary as they may have been, to know that ultimately, it really is about our students and what they are achieving.