Photo: Gwynivere Newbrough
A middle-school speech class has donated $100 to fight domestic violence as they wrote and presented argumentative essays.
“During second semester, one of my classes chose charities to research and write an extensive research/argumentative essay about,” said Mrs. Melody Newbrough, who teaches communication arts at Perry County Middle School. “As they conducted their research, students competed in a ‘penny war’ in which they practiced their future charity speeches on teachers and family members to raise coin donations towards their potentially- winning charity. My class raised $100, all in coins.”
After finishing their essays, students then converted it into a short persuasive speech and presented to their classmates, who then evaluated their speech and scored them. The class chose six finalists:
· Gwynivere Newbrough - National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
· Grady Warren - Beans Cafe
· Taylor Ebersohl - Homes for Our Troops
· Maria Mattingly - Living Beyond Breast Cancer
· Elise Lauck - Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America
· Savannah Young - Humanity for Horses
Those six finalists were then voted on again for the winning charity, which would receive the $100 donation. The winner was Gwynivere Newbrough and National Coalition Against Domestic Violence received the donation.
“I was highly impressed with all of the students' essays, speeches, and hard work put in during this unit,” Mrs. Newbrough said. “I can truly say that there were no losers here. I consider all of my students to be winners by the end of this unit, as evident by their dedication to their chosen charities and where the money will be spent.”
Grady Warren
Taylor Ebersohl
Maria Mattingly Hernandez
Elise Lauck
Savannah Young