Estabrook Elementary School in Ypsilanti has had an oratorical society for the last three years. The students who participate do some research and select a speech that they like. Sometimes they are poems or passages from a book, other times they are famous speeches. They learn about the original writer/orator and learn the speech. They meet weekly from October through February and then do a presentation for the whole school and then again for parents. During their meetings they learn public speaking techniques and present their speeches for each other. The club has been organized by Estabrook teacher Debbie Wilbanks who was also assisted this year by fifth grade language arts teacher Kelly Brzak. The members of the Ypsilanti High School Key Club also volunteered and helped coach the kids and were a big help. Max has been participating in the group for three years and this year he selected a speech delivered by legendary radio and television journalist Edward R. Murrow to the 1958 Radio and Television News Directors Association meeting. If you saw the movie Good Night and Good Luck, this was the speech shown at the opening and closing of the film. This year’s presentation took place on February 13, and all the kids did a great job. I taped the presentation and I finally got the edited version uploaded to Ourmedia.org. The video runs about 35 minutes and is a 300MB file so please be patient.