Something amazing happened today. I’ve been locked in my office in meetings all week, and this afternoon I had 20 minutes free, so I wandered out to the playground with my camera to enjoy the sunlight and talk to our grammar school students.
Almost immediately one of our second graders came up to me to tell me she’d finished memorizing her patriotic recitation and ask if I’d like to hear it. Of course I said yes. As I stood and watched for a full two minutes, this 8 year old child recited the first two paragraphs of our Declaration of Independence from memory, with perfect diction and emphasis. Midway through she had an audience of friends, and after she had finished a dozen other second graders asked if they could do a recitation too. Here’s what happened next:
This is the kind of moment we dreamed of when we started this school, and here it is, happening all over the place with no fanfare and no planning in advance. These students are the kind of people who know the Declaration of Independence and love reciting it.
The prize for these students’ hard work? Their own personal copy of the Constitution, delivered to their classroom. They were thrilled to receive them.
Arrows up, all!
The Classical Classroom 