Southland College Prep Speech Coach Honored For Her Work

MATTESON, IL — A Southland College Prep Charter High School teacher was honored in a surprise celebration by current and former students for her recognition by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) in Florida this month.

Cheryl Frazier is the director of speech and forensics at the Richton Park high school. She started the speech and drama program at the school shortly after it was founded in 2010, and has built the program into a nationally recognized speech powerhouse, according to a news release from Matteson School District 162.

On July 7, Frazier was honored in a surprise celebration by her speech students and alumni of the program for her earlier recognition by the NFHS in Orlando, Florida, earlier this month. According to the school district, Frazier was one of eight people recognized by each of the group’s geographical regions as a 2020 NFHS Citation recipient. Because of COVID-19, last year’s awards were postponed, according to the school district.

The Citation award honors individuals who have made significant contributions to the NFHS, state high school associations, athletic director and coaching professions, the officiating avocation and fine arts/performing arts programs. It is one of the most highly regarded achievements in high school athletics and performing arts.

“It’s always been my ministry,” Frazier said of her coaching career. “I always felt my job, my purpose, my passion was to make sure our children know who they are, where they came from and their purpose in this life and world. I was determined for them to know their history, through literature and through the speeches they wrote.”

The NFHS’s 51-member state associations, which includes Washington, D.C., serves 19,500 high schools and more than 12 million young people, according to the school district.

Last month, two of Frazier’s Southland College Prep Charter High School students earned national recognition, winning a championship and third place medal at the National Speech and Debate Association Tournament.

Nyah Ware, Southland’s Class of 2021 valedictorian, won the national championship in prepared prompt speaking at the tournament which was held virtually last month, competing against hundreds of students from schools across the country. Bri’Yon Watts, also a member of the Class of 2021, earned third place in Dramatic Interpretation in the same virtual event.

Frazier has coached national champions in speech, however this year, having two students in the national finals earn third place and first place, was especially gratifying and a highlight of her 34-year career as a speech coach, she said. Frazier began coaching speech at her alma mater, Thornwood High School, in 1987. She launched the speech and drama program at Southland in 2011.

Southland has qualified students for state competitions every year since 2012 and earned six state championships, the only school in the state to win state championships for the Performance in the Round event in three consecutive years, according to the school district.

Since 2013, Southland has qualified students to compete in the National Speech and Debate Tournament every year, with Erik Thomas winning the national championship in Poetry Reading in 2015 and three other national finalists, including Armanti Reed in 2019 who earned second place in Prose Reading.