A new activity is in season here at Alliance High School: Speech. Under the watch of AHS English teachers Ms. Beth Carver and Mrs. Mary Theresa Greene and Grandview elementary teacher Ms. Courtney Fruhling, the team is reaching new levels of success. Ms.Carver, Mrs. Greene, and Ms. Fruhling are all dedicated coaches who are taking their team to great levels of competition. “I enjoy being a coach because of my ever-growing relationships with the students in their love for the sport.” Ms. Carver said.
Speech is a challenging activity requiring a lot of courage and wit. Competitors must also be outgoing to succeed in this activity. Unlike other extra-curricular activities, Speech has dozens of different categories, each unique in it’s own way. Some limit the time a speaker has to prepare. Other events require specific number of contenders. Or place guidelines upon resources, originality, preparation material, or memorization. All events require competitors to speak for a specific amount of time. The categories consist of: Extemporaneous, Serious Prose, Humorous Prose, Duet Acting, Poetry, Oral Interoperation of Drama, and Entertainment.
Participants are required to compete as teams and a “team” is specified by having at least two people entered in each event. With these specifications the AHS Speech team could be in trouble. It is in dire need of more participants and the School Board is prepared to cut the team if its numbers don’t increase.
Speech team members hope additional publicity will help boost their numbers. Speech meet wins are not often broadcasted and that is bothersome to some members of the team and the coaches. “It would help with school support for the speech team,” said Ms. Carver. In fact, “…most [people] don’t know the speech team even exists!” When asked what she would say to a future “Speechie” to convince him or her to join the team Mrs. Carver, the head coach of the Alliance team, said she wants others to know that, “It’s a fun and supportive group. A true joy to be a part of.” To possible spectators she says, “Support your school by watching outstanding students preform in intricate speeches.”
Out of the twenty-seven current Speech team members, a majority (16) are sophomores. Mrs. Carver hopes that the number of contenders will not be a problem with the promise of new members next school year.
For a newcomer at speech meets Mrs. Carver strongly suggest beginning with the Serious prose, “We have many finalists in this category all containing high emotion.” Her personal favorite event to watch is OID. “I like watching OID because students work together to perform entertaining mini skits.” Being successful in OID requires hard-work, dedication, and, most of all, teamwork.
There are high hopes for the rest of the season. So far the team has done exemplary and several members have a great chance to go to State. The team intends to put a great effort into the up-coming Western Conference meet and, hopefully, to perform well at State. Good luck team; may the odds be ever in your favor.