Upcoming Large Group Speech

On January 21, twenty-two speech groups will be attending the first Speech contest of the 2016-17 school year.

Freshman teams include a piece on the negative effects of social media and an excerpt from The Little Rascals. Choral Reading is a large group where students memorize a piece, this year about choosing your own adventure, and read in unison. Readers Theater this year focuses on letters from Syrian refugees. Reader’s Theater is where readers share a script from a book without using sets, props or memorizing their script. Ensemble acting this year ranges from the serious topic of school shootings to a comedic story of a grim reaper. The Radio group and TV News ranges from sports to 911. Pieces for Musical Theater include an excerpt from the musical 9 to 5 and from the musical Working.

The number of students involved in Speech this year has grown from around 58 last year to 80 this year. Most teams meet twice a week. Other than Readers Theater and Choral Reading, who meet both times with a coach (Seidl or Smith) most teams meet once with a coach and once on their own. Teams begin practicing after Thanksgiving and their first meet is at the end of January.

Students who are not involved in Speech but would like to support the teams can attend Speech Night January 19. All teams will share their speeches. To go above and beyond in supporting our teams, attend their events. When speakers see people they know in the audience it can be like a comfort blanket and help calm some nerves.

On February 25, ADM will be hosting Individual Speech.  Students not involved in Speech can help run centers, including timing and running the door. By hosting a Speech event, the team brings in money that lowers the amount of fundraising necessary. One great advantage of hosting a Speech event is that students are in their own environment. The speakers from our school also know the classrooms they are competing in.

Seidl believes Speech is good for anyone going into communications or a leadership role in their future. She also believes we are at a disadvantage against other fine arts because Speech is only one class, one semester. Students joining the Speech team are not able to use class time or join a class to focus on Speech. Although this is a disadvantage, the amount of students joining Speech has grown dramatically. Her first year being the Speech coach, Seidl only around ten students participating. She is very happy with the growth of the team since then.