ORATORS HONING SPEECHES : ANXIETY NO MATCH FOR BEVY OF YOUNG PUBLIC SPEAKERS.Byline: Gloria Gonzales Daily News Staff Writer Natalie Davis Natalie Davis may refer to:
A week from today, the 4-foot-5 redhead will stand before about 100 parents, students, teachers and administrators as part of the Conejo Valley The Conejo Valley is a region spanning both Southeastern Ventura County and Northwest Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States. It was discovered in 1542 by Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, and eventually became part of the Rancho El Conejo land grant by School District's Fifth-Grade Orators program. Natalie, whose face is generously sprinkled with freckles freckles Ephilides Brown macules, often exacerbated on sun-exposed zones of the skin surface, which disappear during the winter, and most commonly affecting the fair-skinned, especially of Celtic stock. See Macule. Cf Nevus. , will perform a lively rendition of Judy Blume's story, ``Freckle freckle /freck·le/ (frek´'l) a pigmented spot on the skin due to accumulation of melanin resulting from exposure to sunlight. melanotic freckle of Hutchinson lentigo maligna. Juice.'' ``Once I get up there and start into the story I'm not nervous,'' said Davis, who gave an animated performance during a rehearsal Wednesday. ``But before, I do get a little worried.'' Davis is one of 54 fifth-graders three from each of the district's 18 elementary schools - who will give speeches, perform stories or act as historical figures before a large audience on March 20. The performance, dubbed ``A Night to Shine,'' is the culmination of weeks of memorization and practice. It will be at Aspen Elementary School, 1870 Oberlin Ave., Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. , and is open to the public. ``I just read the story over and over again,'' Davis said. ``And then I practiced in front of my parents and brother and sister.'' The district has held the contest for about 15 years, said Davis' teacher, Arnie Widofsky, who with Donna Adamski coached all of Manzanita's 58 fifth-graders. ``Most people end up in jobs where they have to talk in front of groups of people,'' Widofsky said. ``In my job, I have to speak and be expressive to get my message across. We're teaching communication skills.'' Widofsky said that practicing public speaking also makes students more attentive listeners, and builds self-esteem. ``Jenny Ventura, the other finalist from our school, was a little shy before. Teachers who have seen her speak say they can't believe it's her,'' Widofsky said. For her speech, 11-year-old Jenny researched and wrote the life story of women's rights The effort to secure equal rights for women and to remove gender discrimination from laws, institutions, and behavioral patterns. The women's rights movement began in the nineteenth century with the demand by some women reformers for the right to vote, known as suffrage, and pioneer Lucy Stone Noun 1. Lucy Stone - United States feminist and suffragist (1818-1893) Stone . ``I wanted to do a girl, and not a man,'' Jenny said. ``So I went to the library and there was a shelf with stories about all different people. She was there, and I'm also interested in women's rights.'' Jenny read about Stone and wrote a five-minute, first-person biography that includes the passage: ``When I married Henry Blackwell, I kept my maiden name maiden name n. A woman's family name before she is married. Used of a surname that is replaced by a woman when she marries. Also called birth name. , and I was the first woman in the nation to keep my name after marriage.'' Jenny said she was attracted by Stone's grit and determination. ``And it was neat learning about people who lived a long time ago and wondering what they were like,'' she said. ``I like to learn about the past and how things got started.'' If Thursday night's line-up is any indication, fifth-graders throughout the district share Ventura's curiosity. Among the historical luminaries appearing are Eleanor Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy "John Kennedy" and "JFK" redirect here. For other uses, see John Kennedy (disambiguation) and JFK (disambiguation). John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917–November 22, 1963), was the thirty-fifth President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in , Walt Disney, Civil War nurse Clara Barton, Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison. And Barbara Walters, played by Julianne Hallack, will conduct a riveting interview with the best-selling author of 1868, Louisa May Alcott, played by Ashley Kvarda. CAPTION(S): 3 Photos Photo: (1-2--ran in SAC, AV and CONEJO editions only--color in CONEJO only) Manzanita manzanita: see bearberry. pupil Casey Merrill, 11, left, won a speech contest for his ``20,000 baseball cards under the sea.'' Fellow pupil Jenny Ventura, 11, above, gives her speech on Lucy Stone. (3--ran in CONEJO only) Manzanita Elementary School teacher Arnie Widofsky talks Wednesday with, from left, Melissa Cobb, Jenny Ventura and Natalie Davis. Tina Gerson/Daily News |
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