‘Give me liberty or give me death!’

Middle school students in eighth grade teacher Lisa Petrey-Kirk’s class recently competed in an oratory contest Dec. 17 featuring the recitation of an excerpt from historical figure Patrick Henry’s famous speech during the American Revolution.  
According to Petrey-Kirk, the students are “learning about the men (and women) who stood for freedom,” studying the great period orators and the effect that persuasive speech can have on people.
“As part of the study, they are memorizing stirring speeches in history that contributed to our independence while learning to stand for democracy themselves,” Petrey-Kirk said via e-mail. “The speech was a portion of a Patrick Henry speech made in the Virginia Assembly in 1774.”
Judges for the contest were Gina Fultz, Tammy Gilkison, Travis York and Derek Shouse.
The winner of the contest was Will Franck.

Photos by Meaghan Downs

Hailey Bowman, center, recites a portion of Patrick Henry’s famous speech while Levi Wilson, Dominic King and Amy Kate Smith look on.

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Addison Stratton performs as Patrick Henry.

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Trulee Gilkison recites a memorized portion of a famous Patrick Henry speech during teacher Lisa Petrey-Kirk’s class on Dec. 17.

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