The board has requested that we take 10-15 minutes to present our findings to to them this Wednesday. They are planning to make a decision on the 4.5 day week issue next month, so now is the perfect time to make our influence known.
As Shakespeare puts it: "Brevity is the soul of wit." What he means is that the shorter and more cogent you can make your presentation, the better. Thus, we will be condensing our papers to their very essence. Three sentences to be exact. You will present these sentences orally to the school board during their Wednesday meeting.
I have three structures that you may use if you're feeling at a loss.
Structure 1: Straight Argument
1. Use the first sentence to make your thesis clear. For example: "We should institute the 4.5 day school week because students from Mountain View will start coming here."
2. Use the second sentence to provide evidence supporting your thesis. For example: "In a survey I conducted, 80 percent of Mountain View students surveyed said they would prefer the 4.5-day school week over a block schedule."
3. Use the third sentence to sweeten the deal. For example: "As you all know, the more students we have, the more money the school district receives."
Structure 2: Problem/Solution
1. Use the first sentence to describe a problem. For example: "For the past few years, more students have transfered out of Lyman into Mountain View than the other way around causing Lyman's school district to lose money."
2. Use the second sentence to set up evidence that will lead to a solution. For example: "In a survey I conducted, 80 percent of Mountain View students surveyed said they would prefer the 4.5-day school week over a block schedule."
3. Use the third sentence to propose the solution and its benefits. "From this survey, we can see that instituting the 4.5-day school week is likely to attract more students to the district, thus increasing the district's financial resources."
Structure 3: Analogy
1. Use the first sentence to set up your analogy. For example: "Instituting the 4.5-day school week would be like winning the lottery, all kinds of money will come into the district."
2. Use the second sentence to set up your evidence. For example: "A survey I conducted showed that, of the Mountain View students surveyed, 80 percent preferred the 4.5-day week over the block schedule."
3. Use the third sentence to bring the analogy and evidence together. For example: "It's likely that students will start moving into the Lyman school district for the 4.5-day school week, and as we all know, the more students we have, the more money the district receives."
This assignment should be finished by the end of class. When you feel you are finished, call me over to look at it. When I approve it, please email it to me.
The school board meeting is scheduled for this Wednesday at 8 p.m. in the basement of the District Office.
