News and Media
Can He Change the Way We Change? - A Profile in Persistence
It started with a crinkled coat. When Joaquin Stevenson ‘21 was a sixth-grader at The Peck School he discovered the challenge of trying to keep his required school blazer wrinkle-free while traveling to and from sports matches after school. Stuffing it in his sports bag was the only option and neither he, nor his mom, were pleased with the results.
Joaquin wondered why girls at Peck get to switch to their winter uniform on Nov. 1 after fall sports are largely over, but boys have to switch a month earlier? He decided to investigate the matter as the inspiration for a speech in his sixth-grade Public Speaking class. As an added incentive, he thought he might qualify to read his speech to the whole school during Peck’s annual sixth-grade speech competition.*
Ultimately, Joaquin was chosen for the public speaking honor, and his well-researched and reasoned speech was a hit during the last school year. But with the dawning of a new school year, and with the confidence of a new seventh-grader, Joaquin decided to persist. He drafted an email to Head of School Andy Delinsky and reprised his request for equality in uniform change-overs.
Did his request and his perseverance rock the administrative boat at Peck? Find out in this short video profile that shows the power of persistence.
* Public speaking skills are highly valued at Peck. In addition to a host of speaking opportunities throughout their K-8 years, grade six students take a formal class in Public Speaking. Out of the class sections, five speeches are chosen to be read during a speech competition at an all-school assembly each year. In their graduation year, every Peck student is required to make an Eighth-Grade Speech during one school assembly during the year.
THE PECK SCHOOL
247 South Street | Morristown, NJ 07960973-539-8660
Northern New Jersey's timeless and transformative co-ed independent elementary and middle school education for grades K-8.
The Peck School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.