MHS’ speech program excels


MHS juniors Olivia Goodyear and Chloe Gray competed at All-State individual speech on March 26. The speech program at MHS has soared this school year with so many students signing up. (Photo by Kim Brooks)
By: 
Kim Brooks
Express Editor

     The Monticello High School speech teams this year have been on a roll!

     During Group Speech season, two groups of two were selected for All-State, with nine teams receiving Division I ratings at State.

     During Individual Speech season, with Individual All-State students performing Monday, March 26, two students were nominated. There were 27 individuals receiving Division I ratings at State.

     Speech, which is an elective, is coached by Kim Carlson and Rebecca DeWitte. Calrson has been coaching for 22 years now; DeWitte started assisting her in 2006. Working with these gals is volunteer speech coach Diane Temple, who brought her speech experience from Maquoketa Valley.

     Carlson said this was a big year for large-group speech with 75 students.

     “The biggest we’ve ever had was 101,” she said. “But as the class sizes go down, our numbers from which to pool from drops.”

     In general, Carlson said speech in high school is huge for the State of Iowa.

     MHS is part of the southeast district for both group and individual speech, which is also the most competitive district. Carlson said you always undoubtedly have students from different schools giving the same speech.

     Carlson said for herself coming into the speech world, it seemed like a natural fit having been active in speech and drama herself in high school. DeWitte said when she started, it was the students who taught her along the way.

     “I learned from the students,” she said.

     Typically, students who go out for group speech end up also taking part in individual speech. There are 10 different categories from which to choose from in the group category, and 13 for individual. Carlson they ask the students to narrow it down to their top three categories, with seniors getting the first pick.

     “You can only enter two events at a time,” she said.

     There are some categories where students can choose their own teammates, with the coaches forming the groups for such categories as TV News.

     “A lot of it depends on their availability,” said DeWitte. Students are extremely busy today with sports, academics, jobs, and extra circulars before and after school. The speech practice schedule depends fully on their schedules.

     “The practice schedule gets pretty tight,” added DeWitte.

     Carlson said comes down to “wheeling and dealing” with the athletic coaches and other extra circular advisors. On Mondays and Thursdays, Carlson can be found working at the school from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., making sure she’s available to meet with the speech kids.

     “We work it out however we can,” said DeWitte. “It’s rare to get everyone together at the same time.”

     One of the largest groups in speech this year included 15 students.

     “With 15 kids you have 15 different schedules,” said Carlson.

     All large-group speech teams are required to meet twice a week. They can meet more if needed outside of the requirements.

     With individual speech, you have 32 kids in 48 different speech events.

     “That’s hard because the schedule is packed,” said Carlson.

     In this case, the coaches meet one-on-one with each student once a week for each event.

     Carlson said many of the students will meet with her or DeWitte during their WIN time or an open block to fine-tune their material.

     When it comes to the material the students memorize and recite, that’s something the students have some freedom with.

     “We’ll help them find the material and sometimes the students will write it themselves,” said Carlson. “We give suggestions and feedback on what they pick.”

     In the end, both Carlson and DeWitte have been involved in speech long enough to know what works and what doesn’t work.

     “They (the students) know our expectations what’s acceptable,” said Carlson.

     “They have to put all of the hard work into it, they want to pick something good,” added DeWitte.

     On occasion, they will reuse material from past years that has done well at conference and district speech events. Carlson they usually wait four years before bringing it back.

     The coaches have seen the great benefits speech involvement has on the students.

     “They need to have the willingness to be crazy,” joked Carlson. Many times during competitions at various schools throughout the district, students can be seen inside the gyms or hallways reciting their speech to the wall.

     “You will look silly and have to be ok with that,” said DeWitte. She said she’s seen how students break out of their shells thanks to speech. “You see all kinds of different kids go out for speech.”

     Carlson said in speech, everybody accepts everybody.

     “We’re a team,” she said.

     While the speech students have certainly been riding on cloud nine lately, Carlson said that’s not always the case.

     “It all depends on the judges,” she said. “Last year was a phenomenal year for us!”

     A freshmen group improve team made it to All-State last year, and again as sophomores this year. “That’s super hard to do,” praised Carlson. That group included Jeff Carlson and Payton Jaeger.

     Speech has helped students improve their public speaking abilities, and has given them more confidence.

     Chloe Gray, a junior, competed March 26 at All-State for Literary Program. She said being involved in speech has helped her become a better speaker.

     “You accomplish a lot in a little amount of time,” she said of the tight practice schedules after group speech and as you start individual speech season.

     Olivia Goodyear, also a junior, competed at All-State for Expository Address. She said before high school she never knew about speech.

     “All of my friends were doing it,” she said of getting involved. Goodyear said she’s made even more friends through speech, meeting students from so many other schools. “It’s just a fun environment.”

 

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