If people are further interested, Kary Mullis wrote some really shocking things in Dancing Naked in the Mind Field. He's the Nobel-winning chemist who invented the polymerase chain reaction for replicating DNA. He talks about the journalist slant in the science world being a bi-product of money-oriented scientists using the media to make themselves rich through popular punditry. This leads to mainstream acceptance of major theories before they've been scientifically proven. As a pretty shocking example, Dr. Mullis cites that even though the link is credible, something as important to our society as HIV has not yet been scientifically proven to lead to AIDS, yet the theory is unquestioningly accepted. While HIV almost certainly does lead to AIDS, the science is behind the popular acceptance, and the media is the cause.
I have a natural bias toward this solution, but it helped me so much that I now encourage it onward:
In some places (usually where there is money, but not necessarily), the schools get into competative public speaking and acting. I coach these events for a high school in suburban Chicago. Kids typically need no previous experience (or talent, for that matter) when they join up...we work that out later. The average kind of kid that we get doesn't fit well into a group and has very little confidence. Normally they mumble and keep poor eye contact in conversation.
Typically there are lots of different categories to try, depending on the state. So the geeks that like to write their own version of "Hitchhiker's Guide" will be happy, and the geeks who are Republican at way too young an age will be happy as well. If the team has a good energy to it and is supportive, the stagefright is over very quickly. The important thing is that it gives confidence through a trial-by-fire, so the effects are long-lasting.
I got this gig because I have a theatre degree (certified geek), and I've been coaching for four years now. I had some Freshmen four years ago that couldn't find a coherent sentence with two hands and a flashlight, and I kid you not, this year one of those girls is athletic with awesome grades and guys are indimidated to ask her out! Competative forensic speech and acting work just as well if not better than any other activity I've ever seen, and if kids can get into a good after-school progrom for competative speaking or acting, please point it out to them.
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If people are further interested, Kary Mullis wrote some really shocking things in Dancing Naked in the Mind Field. He's the Nobel-winning chemist who invented the polymerase chain reaction for replicating DNA. He talks about the journalist slant in the science world being a bi-product of money-oriented scientists using the media to make themselves rich through popular punditry. This leads to mainstream acceptance of major theories before they've been scientifically proven. As a pretty shocking example, Dr. Mullis cites that even though the link is credible, something as important to our society as HIV has not yet been scientifically proven to lead to AIDS, yet the theory is unquestioningly accepted. While HIV almost certainly does lead to AIDS, the science is behind the popular acceptance, and the media is the cause.
I have a natural bias toward this solution, but it helped me so much that I now encourage it onward:
In some places (usually where there is money, but not necessarily), the schools get into competative public speaking and acting. I coach these events for a high school in suburban Chicago. Kids typically need no previous experience (or talent, for that matter) when they join up...we work that out later. The average kind of kid that we get doesn't fit well into a group and has very little confidence. Normally they mumble and keep poor eye contact in conversation.
Typically there are lots of different categories to try, depending on the state. So the geeks that like to write their own version of "Hitchhiker's Guide" will be happy, and the geeks who are Republican at way too young an age will be happy as well. If the team has a good energy to it and is supportive, the stagefright is over very quickly. The important thing is that it gives confidence through a trial-by-fire, so the effects are long-lasting.
I got this gig because I have a theatre degree (certified geek), and I've been coaching for four years now. I had some Freshmen four years ago that couldn't find a coherent sentence with two hands and a flashlight, and I kid you not, this year one of those girls is athletic with awesome grades and guys are indimidated to ask her out! Competative forensic speech and acting work just as well if not better than any other activity I've ever seen, and if kids can get into a good after-school progrom for competative speaking or acting, please point it out to them.