A few hours before the grand finale, it is not Chopin that we hear in front of the amphitheater of the same name, at George Sand’s estate in Nohant-Vic, but “La tribu de Dana”, or cries of ninjas. It is the students of the George Sand high school in La Châtre who are helping their three fellow finalists in the “Éloquencez-vous” competition, second edition.
Preparing students for the bac… and the future
This contest, organized for the first time by the Castres high school during the 2018-2019 school yearis a succession of many stages for all first, general and technological students. “It’s an educational project in which they all participate: the goal is to try, at least, to realize the power of speech” explains Charlotte Gattulli, French teacher and member of the competition’s organizing committee.
At the beginning of the year, all the pupils must write a text intended to be declaimed: the five best of the different classes are selected. this year, they were 20 to participate in the internal final, during which they had to work on subjects such as “Today is tomorrow”, or “Is love at first sight fatal?”. For each subject, one student defended the positive, the other the negative.
– Mary Dorcet
The goal is not to win the grand final, against the Pierre and Marie Curie high school this year, but tolearn to speak. “They have oral tests in Première and Terminale, it’s a fun way to prepare them. And then speech is also who we are, there are lots of things that go into eloquence, so we wanted them to realize the oratorical power” explains the teacher.
“Before, I turned red during presentations”
This final of the competition, Laura Brisse would never have thought of getting there a few years ago. The 15-year-old high school student says she was extremely shy for many years. “In college it was very hard to raise my hand, I would turn red during presentations… It started to get better in high school, and I think this competition has given me a lot more things for the future. “.
Not to mention that this test created a strong cohesion between the students, from different classes. “Even those who will not be on stage will see the progress of their classmates, and that alone is great. I am very proud of my students” smiled Charlotte Gattulli.
– Mary Dorcet
During this final, the six students competed on three subjects: “All treasures are not gold and silver”, “Being the son or daughter of, is it an advantage?” and “Real life is elsewhere”. Among the jury in particular, the lawyer with the Council of State and the Court of Cassation Maître Bertrand Perrier.
And even if the important thing is to participate, the prizes had something to make you want: gift vouchers of 200, 150 and 100 euros for the first three.
The George Sand high school in La Châtre intends to organize this competition again in the years to come. Why not face high schools from other regions.