Jayson Heitner Electrifies Woodhull School
Jayson Heitner electrified Woodhull Intermediate School when the fifth grader flawlessly recited Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s legendary “I Have a Dream” speech over the public address system as students, teachers and staff members listened.
The event was part of Woodhull’s Black History Month celebration. Mr. Heitner gave the speech without the benefit of reading it off a printed page after having memorized the entire address. “He used an accent and hand gestures,” said Dina Telesco, his proud teacher. “It was truly amazing.”
A day earlier, Mr. Heitner had approached Woodhull Principal Jarrett Stein in the hallway, asking if he could recite Dr. King’s speech. “I told him that he could do it over the loud speaker for the entire school if he wanted too,” Mr. Stein said. “His face lit up and he said, ‘Sure.’”
The next day Mr. Heitner was ready for action as he waited outside the main office. “After I did the morning announcements, I introduced Jayson and asked if he had anything written down for the speech, but he said he memorized it,” Mrs. Stein recalled. “At that point I figured he was going to say a few important lines, but the entire Woodhull School was not expecting what happened next. He started reciting one of the most important speeches in this country’s history from memory. He immediately changed his demeanor and accent and gave the speech with the intensity and veracity just like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I was holding the microphone for him and I started noticing both staff and students gathering around the outside the office windows to see Jayson. You could have heard a pin drop in the school it was so quiet as his peers listened intently to his every word.”
When the fifth grader finished, Mr. Stein turned around to see the crowd that had assembled during the speech and they all applauded Mr. Heitner.
“We stopped at every classroom along the way back to his room and every class cheered when Jayson entered,” the principal said. “When we arrived at Jayson’s classroom, his class roared and gave him a standing ovation. He really had a sense of accomplishment on his face and beamed with pride. That night I called Jayson’s parents at home to tell them how proud we are of him and what a great job he did. The staff and students of Woodhull really enjoyed his performance and are extremely happy to have him in our school.”
Mr. Heitner, whose interests include horseback riding, spent many nights reading the speech and committing it to memory. “He is a talented child,” Ms. Telesco said. “No one could believe how he did it. I am so proud of Jayson, and he should be proud of himself, too. It was very impressive”
Dr. King delivered his masterful 16-minute speech to a crowd estimated at 200,000 on August 28, 1963 from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The address capped a huge march and rally for civil rights.
While Mr. Heitner’s audience was just a little bit smaller than Dr. King’s, comprised of about 600 youngsters and adults, the impact of his efforts shouldn’t be underestimated as it spurred many classroom discussions. “He is a kind student to his peers and the children in my class enjoy being around him,” Ms. Telesco said about the fifth grader.
The performance will go down as one of the highlights of the year at Woodhull. “It was pretty incredible,” Mr. Stein said.
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