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The Pacifica TGC Declamations Contest begins in January and culminates with the final on Friday, February 28, 2025. Students have been strongly encouraged to spend time choosing good texts, as well as memorizing and practicing their delivery outside of class. Parents, you are invited to engage with your students, encouraging them to do this hard thing well. They need to choose a beautiful and time-honored text, and they need to work diligently to commit it to memory while also practicing delivering it well. Please invite them to practice in front of friends and family!

What is a Declamation and why are we doing it?: Most basically, a declamation is an opportunity for students to practice the art of rhetoric in delivering a speech. But it's more than just an exercise in rhetorical sophistry or wrote memorization. Indeed, a declamation allows students to get inside and understand the logic and purpose of a great speech, poem, or piece of prose from the past, while at the same time cultivating public speaking skills, strengthening memorization abilities that promote brain health, and overcoming fear while developing courage. 

The Pacifica TGC Declamations Contest is intended to provide one more link in the chain of virtuous formation where both students and listeners train their passions toward good ends so that when challenges and difficulties arise in life, they will remain steadfast with respect to what is true, good, and beautiful.

Logistically, the contest looks like this: All Pacifica students have chosen a 3-7 minute passage of a speech, poem, monologue, or book. They will declaim in their English classes at all grade levels in late January. Semi-finalists will then be culled down to a group of three finalists in each category who will present at the Declamations Final, where a distinguished panel of judges will choose one winner per category.

All family and friends of Pacifica are welcome. We look forward to seeing you there!

Declamations Final: February 28 at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church from 6:30 - 8:30 PM