How a 'Not Qualified' Teacher Led the Marion High Speech Team to State

How did you get involved in the speech team?

I was teaching dual enrollment credit course at Marion High School. I learned they had funding for a team and a coach so I said I’d do it. It is my first time ever working with high school students which is weird.

How did the season go?

The season went really well if you consider that we had twice as many students as we want and that I am a first time coach.

When did the season start?

October, we had tryouts, but I let everyone on the team. I think the students think of the speech team as family. I felt for that at reason I couldn’t not include people.   

Before I started my career as an educator I spent 12 years at a prior theater school, it instilled in me that only the best are selected.  

We just finished our state contest for the individual events season. We ended up going to the state level — there is the all state above that, but we didn’t have any students qualify for the all state level, which was a surprise to me. I guess given that the students have had five different coaches in four years the program is unstable. I would say I was not qualified to teach high school.

How did your relationship with the students change as the season went on?

I think the students looked at me and were not quite sure what to expect. I think it made them anxious at first, but now that we have spent five months together I am sad i won’t be seeing them on a regular basis. They taught me that teaching high school can be a fun and rewarding experience — something i didn’t know before that.

What did you learn from them?

One thing I really like about my team is that they know when to be serious but they don’t take things too seriously. They are a very fun group of students the scan be mature and can be hardworking and they reminded men that sometimes it ok to have a break.

One thing that I really had to learn the hard way is that teenagers, although they are capable of being accountable, it is still something they are learning to do. As a college instructor I expect students to have accountability, but I have to remember they are still acquiring skills. My job is to help them learn.

What kinds of students were attracted to speech team?

It is interesting to see the types of students who chose it. Some enjoy theater and performance art, some enjoy the academics of researching a topic and analyzing information. Some are there challenging themselves — I had a student with a speech impediment — she wanted to join the team to help improve that part of her life.

What sorts of speeches do the students perform?

When we think about the individual events season there are  a lot there are acting pieces, performance of a monologue, interpretive reading of a prose and we have solo improvisation. They even do things like radio broadcasts. 

Which speech stands out in your mind?

I have a students who is an exchange student from Germany. She did a speech on Alzheimer's and made the audience cry during her. it was very beautifully and tactfully done.