Jackson students learn public speaking skills through cemetery tour

To build students' confidence in public speaking, Jackson teacher Sarah Bess decided to get creative.

Bess' public speaking class of seventh- and eighth-graders gave tours Thursday of Jackson Cemetery off East Monroe Street. Each student presented a detailed speech on the lives of those buried in graves in the cemetery.

Bess assigned students to different graves of the deceased to research and give presentations on. Students combed through history using www.findagrave.com and local newspaper archives. Students Hunter Vanover and Ryan Griffin researched Hunter Altenthal, a World War I private enlisted in 1918 who died in a machine gun company.

Jasmine Williams and Lyla Thompson presented on the lives of Jackson Poe Randol and his wife, Rebecca Poe Randol, a Black couple who lived during the Civil War era.

The Randols' graves reside in a predominantly white portion of the cemetery, Williams explained. It's assumed the Horrell family, who kept Rebecca Poe Randol as a slave, respected and paid tribute to her by paying for her and her husband's grave.

Jackson Poe Randol was one of 100 Black men from Cape Girardeau County who served in the Union Army during the Civil War, Thompson said. He was stationed in Arkansas, but died from either yellow or typhoid fever before he could fight.

Bess said she hoped the public speaking class would engage students in history but also help them gain confidence in public speaking.

"I was looking for a way to give them more authentic speaking opportunities and audiences," Bess said. "It's a good way for them to grow their self confidence and give a speech beyond the four walls of their classroom."

Jasmine Williams, left, and Lyla Thompson present on the lives of Rebecca Poe Randol and Jackson Poe Randol. On Thursday, Williams, Thompson and several other Jackson seventh- and eighth-graders presented on the lives of those buried at Jackson Cemetery.Monica Obradovic ~ Southeast Missourian