CHARLESTON DAY SCHOOL
Mrs. Dottie Rhett continued from page 9
the calmest of laughs or with complex grammar rules she had taught us during the week. Over the course of the year, Mrs. Rhett taught us so many lessons aside from writing. She taught us the importance of looking people in the eye as we talked to them. She taught us to slow down, to be mindful of everyone around us. She taught us the importance of poise and grace, and if we ever bumped into someone, she would stare at us until we looked that person right in the eye, asked if they were okay, and then apologized. And one of the most important lessons I learned from her that I still use today is the knowledge that calm responses can often be a lot more effective than excited ones. If you notice, the lessons that she was imparting to us were the important tenets of the Charleston Day mission. That spring, Mrs. Rhett decided to hold a speech contest, so my class was the first fifth grade to ever compete in the speech contest. We were all excited to write a speech for Mrs. Rhett. We worked on them for weeks, and then, just as we do now, we presented them to our classmates. During our practices, Mrs. Rhett reminded us constantly about poise and grace, about looking at an audience and standing tall — all the lessons she had been slowly teaching us all year. I was chosen to be a finalist in the official school-wide speech contest. I didn’t win, and at first I was disappointed in myself. But then, Mrs. Rhett looked me right in the eye and told me how proud she was of me and all of the hard work I had shown. Immediately, I knew that I had done everything I could, and that I should be proud of my accomplishment. Since that year, every single fifth grader at Charleston Day has written and presented a speech. The fifth graders are reminded of the same important lessons I learned years ago — that strong writing and grammar can result in great compositions, that looking people in the eye when you talk to them can affect the way that they view you, and that poise and grace will always win. And that’s a legacy that certainly makes Mrs. Rhett worthy of being mentioned during Women’s History Month. 10
SPRING 2021
The 35th Annual Dottie Rhett Speech Contest
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very Charleston Day graduate can claim public speaking as a core competency. Public speaking instruction is woven throughout Charleston Day’s curriculum beginning in Kindergarten. Those skills were demonstrated in March as the fifth grade participated in the 35th Annual Dottie Rhett Speech Contest. The contest was started in 1986 by language arts teacher Mrs. Dottie Rhett, who firmly believed that public speaking was a skill that every child should acquire. The contest was named in her honor after her death in 2014. We were honored to have her husband, the Rev. Dr. William Rhett Jr., in attendance again this year. The speech contest is a favorite tradition of Charleston Day students and alumni. Students in fifth grade choose a topic of interest to them, research it and write a speech to be delivered in front of the class and in-house judges. This event follows months of preparing their speeches in class during a Writers Workshop. Students learn skills such as taking notes, forming outlines, and citing sources, following MLA style. From there, six finalists are selected to present their speeches in front of three external judges. Each fifth grader plays an important role, whether making formal introductions, acting as the Master of Ceremonies or giving a dramatic reading while the judges deliberate.
Scan this QR close to watch the winning speeches in the 2021 Dottie Rhett Speech Contest.
