For this spring semester, WJPS 12th graders will be participating in the soapbox speech project.

Soapbox speeches are two minute presentations where students speak out on topics they are personally passionate about, intended to improve civic leadership and public speaking skills.

This activity is taking place in 12th grade government and economics classes. Some classes have already completed this work and delivered their speeches, while others will partake in it in the coming weeks.

AP Macroeconomics students will begin working on this project after the AP test in May.

This project requires substantial time for researching, drafting, and revising speeches.

In order to earn points towards the Seal Of Civic Readiness, a few elements need to be added to the project soapbox activity beyond what was done in Mr. Gembara’s ninth grade classes.

WJPS assistant principal Mr. Bacharach said, “This is a closing opportunity for seniors to have their voices heard one last time before they head off to the real world, where we hope they will use what they learn from the experience to improve our society.”

WJPS 12th grader Lillian Kong said, “I’m not happy about having to do this project again considering we already did it in ninth grade, but I understand the importance of making our voices heard.”