Meet tomorrow
’s leaders. A group of outgoing and intelligent home-schooled
youngsters come together every Thursday afternoon to learn public
speaking and other skills in a Youth Leadership program organized
by the Morgan Hill Toastmasters club.
Meet tomorrow’s leaders.
A group of outgoing and intelligent home-schooled youngsters come together every Thursday afternoon to learn public speaking and other skills in a Youth Leadership program organized by the Morgan Hill Toastmasters club.
The children ranging from sixth to 12th grade meet in a classroom of the West Hills Community Church in the shadow of El Toro Mountain.
One recent Thursday, seventh-grader Chris Hays, 13, gave a presentation to the group describing how the non-profit organization Village Harvest picks fruit from local people’s backyard trees to feed the homeless. To catch his audience’s attention, he placed large yellow grapefruit on the tables in front of everyone. Hays acted like a cool and confident professional speaker as he described how he’d recently volunteered for the worthy cause.
Afterwards, he described his real reaction: “I’m like all sweaty,” he admitted. “I think I was nervous.”
Hays said he benefits greatly from the activities of the Youth Leadership program. He has learned to organize his thoughts better and be more assertive about expressing his opinions and ideas.
“It’s cool ‘cause it’s like more organized discussion,” he said of the class. “You can talk about what you want.”
Catey Yuen, 11, another seventh grade student, told an amusing story of a family camping trip she took to Coyote Lake when she was 5 years old. She described her immense craving for “S’mores.” Unfortunately, no one brought any firewood to cook the delicious camp-out treat. The audience of fellow students laughed at her funny story.
Program co-leader Jim Carrillo praised her communication skills in a post-speech evaluation.
“Excellent interaction with the audience!” he boomed. “I love your hand gestures. I loved your facial expressions. It looked like you practiced well.”
Nancy Lowe, another program co-leader, drew out of the students their opinions of that afternoon’s group of young speakers.
“Why do you think it’s important to organize your speech?” she asked them.
Various students gave answers – it makes the speech easier to follow and it helps the listeners connect ideas together, they suggested.
Yuen described an observation she discovered while telling her camping-trip story: “This might sound weird, but if you keep eye contact with the people you’re speaking to, it’ll seem like you’re interested in them and not just reading your notes.”
Following the prepared speeches, Carrillo and Lowe next brain-stormed with the student on that day’s “table talk” question – an impromptu discussion of something relating to their lives.
As Lowe wrote down the student’s ideas on the white board, Carrillo prompted them to give their opinions on the question: “Do you think it’s important to protect children on the Internet?”
He then called on 11th grader Jason King of San Jose – that week’s Youth Leadership program’s class president – to give an impromptu speech addressing the question. The 16-year-old gave a well-reasoned and articulate discussion that received a hearty round of applause from fellow students and the two co-leaders.
After the speech, he described how the brainstorming process of organizing ideas helped him to clearly express himself and overcome the butterflies in his stomach.
“I didn’t think I was going to be picked, so I was a little nervous,” he said.
But the more times he’s called upon to speak, the more poised he becomes, he said in explaining the benefits he receives from Youth Leadership.
“The class makes you feel confident to speak in front of people,” he said.
Youth Leadership is a voluntary program for kids who want to improve their leadership skills, Carrillo said.
The West Hill Community Church class was initiated after home-school parent Peggy DeAndrade contacted the Morgan Hill Toastmasters club about starting up the Youth Leadership program. The class uses published material provided by the Toastmasters International organization.
Each program session is eight weeks, Carrillo said.
“The students are introduced into group dynamics and the conducting of a meeting,” he said. “They’re given opportunities to give their own opinions in an open formal setting. The children learn techniques for organizing thoughts in order to respond to impromptu discussions.”
The students participating in the program show a lot of leadership maturity, he said. They politely pay attention to each other and are actively involved in discussions.
“I am just amazed,” he said. “These kids are just the best mannered kids I’ve seen …. At first, the kids responded like any normal adult would in a public speaking environment – shaking hands, nervous gestures and butterflies in the stomach. After four weeks, it’s obvious they’re becoming more comfortable expressing their ideas in their own words and communicating with others.”
The Youth Leadership students learn parliamentary procedures for running meetings, and also how to go about organizing their thoughts to clearly express themselves, Carrillo said.
“These skills will help them in their future leadership roles,” he said.
“I actually get a higher level of interaction in regards to public speaking and communication with these high school students in comparison to the adults I work with in my regular work.”
South Valley parents interested in starting a Youth Leadership program at their schools can get more information by e-mailing the Morgan Hill Toastmasters Club at: pr*******@**********************st.org
