A few months ago, Will participated in his lower school's speech competition.
The rules: 1) select whether or not you want to recite a Bible verse or poem, 2) choose either you selected Bible verse or poem from a list of about 100, 3) practice, practice, practice!
Well, Will immediately decided he wanted to recite a poem. From there, we narrowed the list down to only a few and then he selected "The Swing" by Robert Louis Stevenson as the one he wished to recite.
The Swing
How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!
Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
Rivers and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside—
Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown—
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!
We worked on it here and there and as the event came closer, worked even harder. It was one of the longest on the list, and while it may look fairly easy, we had to focus on cadence, voice projection, enunciation, eye contact, and standing still!
Now that doesn't sound like much, but for a 6 year old boy, that is quite a bit to think about!
Finally the day of the big event arrived. The 1st Graders were, well, 1st to go! So Billy and I nervously took our seats and watched as our little star did his thing. We thought certainly if he could survive the spelling bee, he could survive this! And he did. He was poised, he was confident, he was perfect.
He was ranked numero uno, receiving a "Superior" ribbon and certificate.
Here is the clip....
He was selected as one of three 1st Graders to move on to the District meet a month later.
At the meet were 15 other schools, each with 3 contenders. I'm no mathematician but that is a LOT of competition!
Here he is with his bestie before they departed for the big event. Isn't he handsome :)
The speech meet was very formal, no parents allowed, no photography, no nonsense.
We were on pins and needles to hear the results, and when we did, we were quite possibly more proud of him than ever.
He placed THIRD!
Way to go WILL!
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