Students at Veritas Academy recently presented and defended their junior theses. These projects were intended to prepare the students for their capstone senior theses to come in May of their final year and also to equip them with the tools and experience to have productive discussions in all of their adult interactions.
In the classical tradition espoused by Aristotle and his contemporaries and predecessors, Veritas Academy places an emphasis on training students to use their powers of speech effectively. The school endeavors to send graduates into the world equipped with the ability to wield language in a way that is clear, respectful, and powerful for good.
To this end, the final stage of education at Veritas is the rhetoric stage, wherein 10th- through 12th-graders daily put into practice articulating the knowledge and ideas they have acquired and listening to and debating with their peers, their instructors, and others.
Each 11th-grade student spent the first semester selecting, researching, and determining his or her stance on a topic of both controversy and consequence. The thesis topics ranged from theological debates to political flashpoints to cultural quandaries.
After months of research, the 11th-graders composed scholarly papers articulating their theses, laying out their findings, and explaining their reasoning for the stance they had chosen. At the conclusion of the semester, each student stood before a panel of teachers and community members, as well as peers, to present and defend his or her thesis. Students were expected to answer panelists' challenges and questions with poise and confidence, listening well and responding thoroughly to the questions presented.
Students who successfully defended their theses are Johnny Adkins, Elise Cochran, Kate Haluck, Sarah Jacob, Maura Knapik, Brayan Martin, Tyler Mitchell, Luke Moses, Owen Nissley, James Rawlings, Elianna Ream, Lily Siefferlein, Ciana Thompson, Paton Walters, Jania Weist, and Moses Yang.
For more information about Veritas Academy, readers may visit http://www.VeritasAcademy.com or call 717-556-0690.
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