Maxwell's Speech

03/31/18

Maxwell bugged me relentlessly about the abandoned suit coat he had spotted hanging in the computer lab in our site church.  “Ms. Kristin, I really need that suit for the speech contest,” he insisted. 

After changing into the suit for the contest, Maxwell came out to the playground looking like a million bucks. The jacket fit him perfectly. Why should I be surprised?  It seems that suit was waiting just for him for that day.  Hands down, he had worked the hardest on his speech.  Day after day he persisted in asking volunteers and staff people to help him.  He wrote endlessly, and I was fearful that he might be writing a book instead of a speech.

He delivered his speech with power, confidence, and gusto.  It was incredible.

After our children gave their speeches and the points were tallied, I was thanking the various groups of people involved.  Maxwell made his way to the front.  He raised his hand, “Ms. Kristin, can I pray?”  I hesitated, suspecting that perhaps he just wanted another moment of glory on stage, but how could I refuse a request to pray?  He walked up to the center of the stage and took the microphone,

“Dear God, Thank you for the Bible studies.  Thank you for UrbanPromise.  Thank you for all of the people who came from Virginia to help Ms. Kristin because she couldn’t do this by herself.”  

I was speechless.  This third grader took the words right out of my heart.  Later that evening, we rejoiced with Maxwell as he received first place for his age group.

At our 2nd annual African-American and Latin-American Achiever Speech Contest this month, 32 of our students wrote and presented inspiring speeches for an audience of parents, peers, judges, and volunteers.  The contrast between last year and this year was HUGE.  Children who needed help with every single word last year needed help with only one or two words this year.  This reflects the transformative power of one-on-one tutoring taking place each day at our after-school program.