On Saturday, January 19, I had the privilege of serving as a judge for the Ninth Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Open Speech & Debate Tournament at E.L. Meyers High School in Wilkes-Barre. Participating were students from 26 different schools! If you are familiar with the kids who participate in these teams, you will know why I speak of it as a privilege. If not, please read about my lucky day.

Personally, I don’t like public speaking. I don’t know when the fear crept in, but I know the fear is worse now than it was years ago. My hands shake and my pits sweat. My voice quivers and I feel my brain cramping. I avoid it. These kids choose it.

Remember the Brady Bunch episode about Marsha’s public speaking anxiety? The suggested cure for nervousness was to picture the judges in their underwear. I really hope nobody tried that method! Picturing ME in my underthings would not have helped any of these students! But kidding aside, no such tactics were needed by them. These students clearly had well-trained minds and were fully prepared for their events.

The events I was chosen to judge were Dramatic Duo Interpretation and Extemporaneous Speaking. For the Dramatic Duo, a team of two presents a work of art while making no physical or eye contact with one another. Their timing was exceptional. At times, I couldn’t distinguish where one began and the other ended. It became hard to think of the two as individuals; they presented flawlessly as a team.

For the Extemporaneous Speaking event, the kids are given a topic. After 30 minutes of preparation, they speak for seven minutes — without notes! These kids are smart! They were composed, even witty at times, and organized in their thought.

To learn more, I spoke with Attorney Kim Borland who volunteers his time to coach the Meyers High School Speech & Debate team. He explained that this is an extracurricular activity so the team practices outside of school hours. It’s not just a seasonal activity, either. They practice during the entire school year: from September to June. In addition to hosting this competition, the team travels to other schools. They go to Harvard for the Presidents’ Day Weekend. While he didn’t say so directly, I’d imagine he devotes a great deal of his personal time (and no doubt his money), coordinating competitions and traveling to these events. This all requires great planning, fund raising, transportation and chaperone issues. I totally respect people like him.

He’s coaching kids to be our future leaders. Sometimes it seems like football and basketball players get all the gladiator glory. Out of curiosity and at random, I checked some local high school websites. All had an athletic link. One –only one– had a link to the extracurricular clubs or non-athletic events. Thankfully, there were photos in our local newspapers about this event, but nothing in the Weekender (at least I didn’t see it and I flipped through it twice). It’s these kids, though, who will really make a difference. Unlike their peers, whose body will protest eventually, these students stay at the top of their game until they choose to step down.

I’ll make my own salute to these students and those extra-curricular non-athletes who choose to spend their leisure time in meaningful activities. Besides the Speech and Debate teams and in no particular order: band, jazz, orchestra, choral, graphic arts, Future Business Leaders of America, chess, culinary arts, media clubs, drama, Odyssey of the Mind, Science Olympics, History Day, community and civic volunteers, religious/language/cultural clubs, Key Club, home economics, yearbook, newspaper, student government, photography, and my humble apologies to any I missed. Certainly this must represent the better half of the student body at any high school.

Martin Luther King had a dream and told us so in 1963. His ideals are done justice in this annual competition named in his honor.