Scene Thirteen: Mike's Classroom
Camera opens with a shot of the doorframe where Coleman walks in.
Coleman
(As he enters the room, with a loud, booming voice)
Mike!
Camera pans back over to Mike, who still had his feet on his desk, and his eyes closed. When he hears Coleman's voice, he suddenly jumps up to full attention and sits up straight.
Mike
Principal Coleman! It's good to see you. What's going on?
Coleman
(Walking over to Mike's desk)
Well, I knew your little debate team had its first meeting today, so I wanted to check in with you about how it went.
Mike
You know, it went really well. Great actually. I had seven kids show up, and they're all such great kids. They're very excited to get started and take on a new challenge.
Coleman
(Extremely condensing)
"Great kids". Are you sure about that?
Mike
(Slightly annoyed)
I certainly am. Why wouldn't I be?
Coleman
Because I saw that circus of kids that came walking out of your classroom earlier. If that's your entire team, you're gonna be pushing a boulder up a steep hill the rest of the year trying to work with them.
Mike
(Shifting from annoyed to frustrated)
And what exactly is that supposed to mean?
Coleman
Look, some of them really are good kids. Lexi and Chelsea are great. Jax is a good kid too, although I don't really understand what his deal is. But the rest of them? You're kidding yourself if you think you can turn them into debate champions. I mean, the only time Rocky speaks is to mouth off to people. Jordan has the ambition of a cardboard box. Memphis has such delusions of grandeur about making it to the NBA that he doesn't bother with anything else. And Rico...well that kid is diagnosably a moron. I'm not convinced that he knows how to read.
Mike
Excuse me, but I don't think that's an appropriate way to talk about your students.
Coleman
I'm just being honest. Trying to lead that group is going to be like trying to wrangle a bunch of clowns into the tiny car.
Mike
I'm sorry, but is there a point to this conversation?
Coleman
Yes, there is. My point is to wish you good luck with that bunch. Trust me, you're gonna need it.
Coleman then turns his back to Mike, and walks out of the classroom. Mike takes a deep breath, trying his best to keep himself composed. He then picks up a notebook and a pen and begins to write.
Episode ends with a shot of Mike's notebook as he writes at the top of any empty page: "How to whip the team into shape".
The end.
YOU ARE READING
Prose: Season One, Episode One: "We're Joining the FBI!" (TV Episode Script)
Teen Fiction"In short, Forensics is Speech and Debate. The title originates from Aristotle's 'The Rhetoric'. In this book, he divided all forms of rhetoric into three different categories: epideictic, deliberative, and forensics which referred to speech pertain...
