Involvement in High School Activity Programs is Life-Changing for Nebraska Student
More than eight million high school students are involved in athletics, and there are likely an equal number who participate in other activities such as music, speech, debate and theatre.
The NFHS has been sharing the benefits of these programs for decades – benefits far exceeding the opportunity to play, perform or compete in these activities beyond high school.
One of the most compelling examples of the value of high school activities and why these programs must continue and must be proclaimed from the mountaintops is Eden Coppersmith, a senior at Paxton High School and this year’s recipient of the NFHS National High School Heart of the Arts Award.
Amazingly, through the speech program at Paxton High School and the school’s coach, Crystal Fox, Coppersmith was able to alter the course of her life that had been defined by silence and, by her senior year, become a confident speaker, participant and medalist at meets.
Coppersmith was born with Spina Bifida and selective mutism, an anxiety disorder, and faced significant challenges from a young age. In addition to life in a wheelchair, her journey to speak began with a single word. By fifth grade, she managed only three words in class the entire year. In sixth grade, her voice disappeared entirely. She wanted to speak and be heard, but her mind refused to let her talk.
Despite her silence, Coppersmith competed in other activities – she played the flute, was a manager on the volleyball team, competed in wheelchair track and earned ribbons in art shows. Still, she longed to be more than “the girl in the wheelchair who doesn’t talk.”
And then came the decision that would open the door to a new life – Eden announced that she wanted to join the school’s speech team. Although she had never spoken in class, she wanted to be heard. And thanks to the opportunity to be a part of the Paxton High School speech team, it happened. Although she was unable to speak a word in her first two meets, she eventually was able to talk, which brought tears of joy from her coach and others.
In her junior year, Coopersmith wrote a speech about selective mutism and performed a duet with her best friend and earned 10th place at a meet – Eden’s first medal. She then placed second with her individual speech at the next competition and became a vital part of the team, helping the team secure victories at conferences and districts.
By her senior year, Eden was no longer just using her voice for herself – she was using it to speak for others. From her wheelchair and with renewed excitement for life, she spoke regularly in practices and in class. Her journey, once about overcoming silence, had transformed into a story of resilience and purpose. Eden proved that even the quietest voices can inspire, starting with just one word.
And the amazing story continued after news that Coppersmith was named recipient of the National High School Heart of the Arts Award. She agreed to a television interview with KNOP-TV of North Platte, Nebraska – also a first. In that interview, she noted that she first expressed interest in joining the speech team at Paxton as a sophomore.
“My parents told me I should do it when I was little because I was really good at arguing,” Eden said. “Someone told me that I wasn’t going to be able to do it, and I took that as a dare.”
Eden’s coach attended the TV interview as well and shared her thoughts on the amazing changes in Coppersmith’s life.
“Coaches are there to help in a competitive nature,” Fox said. “This was more than that; in some way, you went from not being able to talk to people, to being able to do this interview. That is a different level of success. You get a gold medal or blue-ribbon success, but there is a different level of success that was achieved over the last few years, and it might make the next few years hard to compete with – the stakes are different.”
The National High School Heart of the Arts Award was conceptualized by the NFHS in 2014 to honor individuals who exemplify the ideals of the positive heart of the arts and represent the core mission of education-based activities.
Eden Coppersmith’s journey to speaking is a remarkable story and demonstrates, yet again, the transformative power of education-based activity programs in our nation’s schools.
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