On Thursday, we concluded our celebration of Black History Month with our 4th Speech and Drama Competition, in which our students recited two works each - one prose, one poetry or drama - for a panel of judges. This year showcased our largest group of students speaking with their usual great passion and a surprising breadth of selection. The great Langston Hughes was this year's most popular source, but August Wilson and #BlackLivesMatter also made an appearance, along with impromptu beatboxing and acapella singing. Winning students received monetary rewards, but it was clear through the energy of their presentations that they had other goals in mind. Thanks to our librarian, Ms. Redekopp, and 6th grade teacher Mr. Spencer, for making sure that the students were ready (and to Ms. Neal for nurturing the competition each year).

 

The second signature project of the 8th grade year, the National History Day program, also concluded this week - at least the part that takes place at Deal. With the help of our many judges on Wednesday, a number of student projects moved on to the citywide competition after months of working. A couple of weeks ago, 8th graders finished up their Science Fair presentations as well - also a multi-month program. These are important pieces of work for our students - a focus on the type of work that historians and scientists in their professional lives - that allow Vikings to challenge themselves and see how far their interest and drive can take them. Next year, the IB program's Community Project, currently being piloted, will expand to the entire 8th grade and give those students a culminating, service-focused project to send them off into the summer. We know that 8th grade can be challenging for students, but we also know that it is a critical year for preparation and one that we all take seriously.

 

One other major 8th grade activity bears noting. As I have discussed previously, DCPS has established a new program to send 8th and 11th grade students on trips for global education. This is the first year of this remarkable effort and there was much that was new for us (as schools) and for families and students (as the intended recipients), so it will take some time to understand how to improve it for next year. The final count will have 33 Deal 8th graders (out of over 90 Deal applicants) traveling, for free, to a variety of locations during the summer. This means that some students were disappointed - some because they weren't selected and some because there was some mystery about where they were eventually going to go. I appreciate that many families responded to my request that apply before the deadline, and hope that in spite of disappointments we recognize that this is an unprecedented effort to provide a unique experience for our District's children. Luckily for Deal, three of our world language teachers are involved in these trips, so we can lean on their experience to help refine our end of the process. It is essential that this program succeeds and expands over the years; we will do our part to help it grow.