I saw the best speech of the 2024 election season so far last week, and it was given by a pint-sized eighth-grader from a tiny school in Buena Vista.
“A huge problem in the state of Colorado is that students are unenthusiastic about their education, as shown by the fact that 31% of students are chronically absent,” the impish Joseph Drexler, student at Patterson Christian Academy, announced during the National Civics Bee competition at the University of Denver. “However, we can fix this looming problem by helping students know that they can make a difference in their own lives and the lives of others.” Joseph made this claim with such enthusiasm and joy — he was actually bouncing on the balls of his feet — it gave me a true moment of hope in an otherwise dreary election year.
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