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| Each One, Coach One at Emily's Way |
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The program at Emily's Way, with some of the participants, two coaches (Linda Leaks and Kimberly Nelson) and Emily's Way Mentor.
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EACH ONE, COACH ONE
Each One, Coach One is a component of the AAWRC-sponsored Septima Clark Oratory Contest for Teenage Girls. The Contest promotes and encourages teenage girls in the Washington, DC metropolitan area to become leaders through effective and convincing speeches on issues that affect them and their communities. “The manner and style in which a leader speaks stirs the soul. When the soul is stirred, the heart listens and the body takes action.” Excerpted from a passage on the World Wide Web.
Over the past seven years, the AAWRC has sponsored an Oratory Contest for teenage girls. Each year, organizers, judges, contestants, and audiences have applauded the success of the contest to raise awareness and build self-esteem; each year they have requested that more girls participate; and, each year we have identified in the community who are not been able to participate because they have not had the training available in their community. This year, we will provide coaches to them to help them develop and hone their oratory skills.
The Coach-Coordinators and volunteer coaches will consist of community activists, organizers, womanist and other progressives. This mixture is important because the girl, in preparing for the 2012 Oratory Contest, will need to learn, or improve their understanding of, social and economic justice issues. The end of the session, May 2012, culminates in the Septima Clark Oratory Contest for Teenage Girls. The contest committee has spent a considerable amount of time determining what the best topic will be for the 2012 contest. The most important consideration was what topic would give the girls opportunities for impactful analysis.
In light of the 2012 Presidential Election, the committee unanimously decided on the following topic: Imagine Yourself the First Woman of Color President of the United States of America. What social or economic justice issue will you address during your Administration?
Understanding of this topic, on many levels, requires learning the tools needed to effectively and concisely present her speech. The project begins in the Fall 2011. Two Saturdays a month, for six months, November 2011 to May 2012, girls will be coached in the reading, writing, and speaking skills necessary to ultimately affect change in their communities. These coaching sessions will be in the format of participatory workshops, designed to hold the attention of teenage girls from 13-19. Age appropriate segments are designed for ages 13-15 and for ages 16-19. We anticipate at least 50 girls to participate in the project. Benefits of the program include building the self confidence of girls, increasing their time management skills; articulating their needs, advocating for themselves and their communities, and taking steps towards transforming society.
Timeline for this project begins in the Fall of 2011.
Fall 2011
Recruitment of the Coach-Coordinators and teenage participants. We expect this phase of the project to move swiftly, as we have already started the recruitment of teenagers. We are also prepared to recruit the coordinators.
November 2011 to March 2012
Bi-weekly coaching begins . Two hours every other Saturday. The first hour will find the teenage girls learning about the fundamental values associated with economic and social justice through various age-appropriated approaches, including: Training/discussion on a particular issue area, as well as showing how injustices work. The work with the teenagers will be with small group so that they can be more focused and participatory. The smaller groups allow more interaction and support The second hour, after a break, will be devoted to specific tools of oratory, including: logical, clear messages; points relevant to the topic; volume, production, and tone; effective analysis, clear ideas; gestures, eye contact, and general sense of confidence.
April – May, 2012
Speeches for the May 2012 Septima Clark Oratory Contest will be prepared, practiced and performed during the sessions.
May 5, 2012
Oratory Contest Applications due to AAWRC
May 19, 2012
2012 Stepima Clark Oratory Contest While recruitment will be Washington, DC-wide, the coaching sessions will be held in historic Anacostia, DC where the AAWRC has its offices.
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