Each year, the sophomores give 10H talks to showcase their passions. This enables the students to conduct research, discuss their interests, and draw from their own experiences.
Some examples of the various topics from this year are:
- Gabi Calles: Poverty and Crime in Central America
- Saira Chabria: The Influence Romcoms Have On Us and Our Relationships
- Samantha Prainito: Public Speaking
- Micheal Gbenebitse: The Power of Self-Improvement
- Ishan Kapoor: The Psychological Benefits of Playing a Instrument
- Ethan Blumberg: What Does it Mean for Adults with Special Needs and their Families?
Now, for an interview with Ms Blum and Mr Henao, the extremely helpful overseers of this project:
Ms. Blum:
1. Why do you think this project is an important part of the 10H curriculum?
“To me, this project embodies what 10H is all about. It is about students pursuing their already existing passions while finding new ones to explore as well. What I love most about the presentations is that they stem from genuine curiosity and are connected to the students’ lives, which makes them so much more engaging than your run-of-the-mill public speaking assignment. I also think it’s incredibly important for students to practice and hone their public speaking skills, which will be useful for the rest of high school, college, and beyond.”
2. What is your favorite part when seeing all of these presentations?
“I love how much the class and I get to learn about the presenters via their personal connections that they share. Discovering my students’ musical talents, hearing about their athletic achievements, or learning about cool places they have traveled via the videos, photos and stories they share is always such a wonderful experience. I also love the diversity of topics, and the profound, reflective conversations the presentations inspire us to have in class. Last but not least, I love seeing my students be positive and encouraging to each other as they present… it really feels like a supportive community of learners, which is what I really aim to foster as a teacher.”
3. What would you present about if you had to create a 10H talk?
“You know I can’t pick just one topic. One idea I’ve always been interested in is if and how reading impacts empathy and emotional intelligence. I am also very passionate about music, so I’d love to do something about why the music of our childhood and teen years tends to impact us in such long lasting, profound ways, or perhaps something about the history and perception of female musicians in rock music.”
4. What topic, this year, do you feel especially impacted your viewpoint or thought process?
“So many of them impacted me… it’s so hard to choose one. Some students talked about how learning an instrument or a second (or third) language can have strikingly positive impacts on cognitive function, mental health, etc., even if you begin learning it later in life. Those talks left me feeling empowered and inspired to pick up new skills (or to possibly return to playing music and singing which were passions of mine when I was younger). I was also particularly impacted by a student who presented about poverty in Latin America by sharing the stories of her parents who grew up there, and by a student who presented about the formidable costs of cancer treatments while talking about his own family’s story. I hope my students know how powerful and thought provoking all of their talks are!”
Mr. Henao:
1. Why do you think this project is an important part of the 10H curriculum?
“I think that the English 10H Talks are an important part of the curriculum because while the students are assigned a talk to complete, the topic is entirely up to them. It’s one of the rare moments that students truly get a choice in what their focus is for their work, besides things like independent reading assignments or “choice” assignments. Not only this, but seeing what students produce as a result of their passion is always rewarding in and of itself, especially for me, because I feel like I get to really know students that much more.”
2. What is your favorite part when seeing all of these presentations?
“My favorite part is seeing how far the students have come from their talk’s initial brainstorming stage to a completed presentation. There’s a lot of secondary pride I feel with the students in seeing how their hard work and practice pays off in the end.”
3. What would you present about if you had to create a 10H talk?
“I’ve given talks before, once on the ways in which technology shapes literature (very exciting, I know), and another on how trauma impacts memory and how that then impacts story-telling in literature. I think I would give a talk nowadays, though, on the importance of comics and graphic novels/memoirs in literature and in the classroom. Or maybe something about cooking!”
4. What topic, this year, do you feel especially impacted your viewpoint or thought process?
“I really enjoyed Shruti’s presentation about teacher expectations impacting student achievement — it’s never something I consciously thought about. I also appreciated Alex’s baseball mindset presentation a lot.”
As you can see from Ms. Blum and Mr. Henao’s responses, everyone did an amazing job on this project! Through these presentations, the teachers and students can also strengthen their bonds and get to know one another better. Each student did a fantastic job of personalizing and presenting their topic in an engaging manner!