Talking Leaves
Talking Leaves honors our namesake, Sequoyah, who, upon seeing non-indigenous soldiers reading letters from home (“talking leaves”) developed the Cherokee system of written language for his own people.
Twice each year, all students present a culminating essay and oral presentation modeled after a thesis defense to their peers, a faculty committee, parents, and other invited guests. Students explore and analyze a chosen topic based on a meaningful intellectual experience and reflect on its role in their growth as scholars. Talking Leaves honors the individual academic growth of each student and provides opportunities for them to present and lead intellectual discourse.
Past Talking Leaves Topics
A small selection of exemplary Talking Leaves topics includes:
- An Ecological Analysis of Financial Markets
- People with Disabilities are Not Your Superheroes
- Fight Fire with Fire: Using Viruses to Treat Tuberculosis
- My Journey of Shooting Street Photography
- Frameworks of Childhood Trauma in 100 Years of Solitude
- Harry Potter and the Impact of Categorizing People by Temporary Traits
"Talking Leaves allows us to focus on one class and expand what knowledge we already have into a topic that we're interested in."
Eric
Class of 2026
