The middle school gym was filled with students as Dustin Hamilton took the stage. He clicked on his presentation, with the purpose of educating students on the importance of academics in athletics.
The idea sparked when he was working on a project plan for Leadership. He had the opportunity to do whatever he wanted for a project and chose something for the betterment of the students at the school. He started planning at the beginning of the quarter, hoping to use the Hive of Innovation. Some complications came up, not allowing that to happen. So, he adapted by changing the date and moving the speech to the stage in the Middle School Gym. Throughout that time period, he worked to write, edit, and rehearse his speech.
The initial idea to give a speech in a Ted Talk format sparked from a previous class he had with Mrs. O: English Honors 10. He explains, “I gave a Ted Talk in that class and that is when I realized I enjoyed speaking. So when I thought of this idea I was very excited.” The topic for the speech was produced from his own middle school experience. He felt that he, “would have benefitted from hearing a senior speak to [him] before getting into high school.”
With presenting in front of a large audience, there was a lot of possibility. His main goal from the project was to prepare some of the middle schoolers for high school. He says, “I want to open their minds to the opportunities that will be presented to them, but most importantly I want them to understand the importance of academics.” Speaking to such a large audience is also an extremely brave task. If you are not used to doing so, it is likely for you to be nervous. Hamilton shares that he was most nervous about falling, setting up, or blanking during the speech.
Mrs. O, the leadership teacher shares what she did to help Hamilton prepare for the speech. She says, “We met regularly to talk about his plans and how his preparation was going.” She explains that she felt that this was an important topic for Hamilton to express to the students, saying: “I think that middle schoolers can hear about these topics from their teachers and their parents until we are blue in the face, but it doesn’t sink in until they hear it from someone who was recently in their shoes – like Dustin.” She sees that he is a role model for many of the younger students and believes that he is someone they can truly learn from. In terms of leadership qualities, she sees him as compassionate, a hard worker, good at communicating, good at following through on his obligations, and having a really good heart. Mrs. O goes on to say, “He wants to do his best and do right by others, and I think that is what I appreciate about him the most.”
One of the student-athletes in the middle school who particularly enjoyed Hamilton’s speech was Ayla Blossom. She shares what stuck out the most to her: “By doing well in your academics, it makes it so you can play in high school and in college.” She felt that hearing the information from a student rather than an adult made a huge difference. It gave the perspective of a student that she could relate to rather than just hearing from the teachers. Blossom shares that his speech went very well and made her think a lot about her high school career.
Another middle school student, Jayden Metcalf will be a freshman next year. He plays multiple sports and now knows what an impact grades make on your ability to play. Metcalf shares his favorite part of Hamilton’s speech: “I like how he talked about how he improved over the years and the stories he told about his teammates.” He is going to apply what he learned from the speech both in the classroom and on the baseball field. His plan is to focus on his classes and grades, then on training.
Hamilton’s speech will hopefully make an impact on those who might not care as much about their academic performance as they do their athletic performance. Congratulations to him on such a successful speech!
