10/05/2026
REAL VOICES, REAL CAREERS
San Luis Learners Toastmasters | October 2, 2026
On Friday, our 3rd-period ELA and 4th-period Debate students welcomed Rosa Mendoza and Bianca Melendrez Valenzuela, officers of the San Luis Learners Toastmasters Club, for a workshop on finding and strengthening their voices.
Toastmasters helps people develop public-speaking and leadership skills. Students explored different communication styles and practiced how tone, eye contact, and body language shape a message. The workshop also introduced Table Topics: answering a question and
keeping a short speech going, even when thinking on your feet!
Rosa and Bianca also connected essay writing and author’s purpose to real-world jobs. The same clear opening, organized ideas, and strong conclusion students use in an essay help professionals explain information and present proposals. Knowing whether a message is
meant to inform, persuade, or entertain helps a speaker or writer choose language that fits the audience.
In ELA, these connections give our work with essays and author’s purpose a practical purpose beyond the classroom. Students also practice explaining their thinking and listening carefully to different perspectives. In Debate, they support clear arguments and the presentations students are preparing through Project Citizen.
These same skills matter in interviews, college, careers, and everyday conversations. Students do not have to speak perfectly to share an idea worth hearing.
Thank you, Rosa and Bianca, for encouraging our Wolves to speak with confidence, and to Maria Guzman Ramirez for helping coordinate the visit. Enjoy these moments from our workshop!
Power of the Pack!
