My Athletic highlight is the school trip Play land. We learned about the laws of physics and had a fantastic time as well. The science program has done a wonderful job at creating a trip that allows the students to explore physics and ride the rides with students from all over Vancouver.
Academics- Speeches
My academic highlight for grade 10 is public speaking. I enjoyed this specific subject because it really made me feel confident in front of a crowd. It gave me the opportunity to improve my oral and writing abilities. I chose this topic because I really didn’t realize how much I missed doing it (due to my Australia exchange) until this year. It allows you to either be someone your not or raise awareness on global issues. It is great tradition at Collingwood School and I encourage children not to take it for granted.
Academic Reflection – English 11 – Speeches
One of my academic highlights this year was participating in the grade speech competition. I had missed being a part of this process last year as I had attended exchange in Australia, and I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed the competition. Being a part of a program that carries through grade 1 – 12 is rather daunting for students. The expectations grow in terms of presentation and content, and the pressure to “entertain” gets higher and higher. Due to this pressure, I came up with the idea of doing a speech about body language and the impact it has on the reaction of people around you. I found the subject fascinating because it made me analyze my own body language and it made me correct a number of common mistakes that most people make. I really didn’t realize how important my speech topic was until I read this statistic, “A judgment is made about a person within 20 seconds of viewing them, and 93 percent of this judgment is decided upon by the way we look and carry ourselves”. This statistic shocked me, but as I thought about it I realized that it is probably true. On the day of my performance I tried to take a few “lines” out of my own speech by walking with confidence, keeping my shoulders back, having eye contact with the crowd to show my relaxed nature, and by speaking loudly. It was ironic that many of the things discussed in my speech were things that I could put into play while I was delivering the words! My speech went over really well and the crowd liked the concepts and my delivery. I felt so good being able to teach them something they hadn’t heard before and I know that they listened because there were quite a few questions at the end of my presentation. Mostly however I enjoyed feeling on the edge and a little uncomfortable as I jumped back into speech presentations having been absent for a year. I realized that the greatest improvements that I made were done during this time because I felt so alive and so aware of my surroundings – I was ready to embrace any growth possible. It wasn’t until the end of my speech presentation that I realized that this would be the last time I deliver a speech for Collingwood School. I am a year ahead in English and I won’t be required to write a speech next year – which really makes me sad. As I reflect on all my speeches at Collingwood I have to say that this program is one of the best at the school. Not only does it force all the students to get out of their box, it also allows us to work on valuable presentations skills that we will carry with us forever. That is the beauty of Collingwood. Fortunately I still have a little sister at the school so I will be sure to come and watch her deliver her speech so that I still get a bit of the old feeling again.
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