As students fix their costumes, grab their hand made signs, prepare themselves for debate. Teachers gather students in order to begin the first day of Chautauqua.

Chautauqua is an event that takes place in the auditorium at MCHS’s Upper Campus where students debate about relevant, current topics like women’s reproductive rights, student loans, police brutality and many more.

Students also selected a significant person in history to dress up as in the eyes of their peers and to debate about the current and relevant issues selected by their teachers as the character they chose.

“I was Babe Ruth,” explains Kadin Brock. “It was pretty awesome because I got to see what kind of went on in his life. So I got to learn a lot about him.”

According to Jon Niemic, Honors American Studies teacher, the students played their characters well and tackled the challenging topics of chautauqua. 

“It’s really cool to see the kids embodying their characters and really diving into some of the topics and offering their opinions from their characters perspective on the relevant topics,” he adds.

Students got to learn new skills when participating in Chautauqua while also having fun with their peers and using their voice to speak on the important topics.