Two Tri-County Students Place First in Two Events at 2013 SCSTA College Festival

Tri-County Technical College students placed first in two categories at the 2013 South Carolina Speech and Theater Association’s Annual College Festival Competition.

Ten two- and four-year colleges from around the state competed Saturday, February 2.  Tri-County hosted the event at its Easley Campus.

Representing Tri-County in the competition were Matt Duncan, a University Transfer student from Clemson, Manuel Manley, an Information Technology major from Pendleton and Sohang Patel, a Pre-Pharmacy major from Anderson.

Patel placed first in the Persuasive Speech category. Manley placed first in the Informative Speaking event.

Other categories included: Impromptu Speaking, Musical Theatre, Oral Interpretation of Prose, Duet Acting, Audition Monologue, Theatrical Design, Oral History Interpretation and Oral Interpretation of Poetry.

“We have been taking teams to this competition for the last sixteen years. This is a great opportunity for students to develop important communications skills and do it in a competitive environment,” said Tri-County Speech instructor Greg Toney, who coaches the team.  “Everyone worked hard and was deserving of his success.”

“My goal is to go to these competitions and be competitive,” said Toney. “It’s a challenge to compete every year against schools such as Newberry and USC Upstate that actually have four-year programs in Drama and Speech.  However, we always have success and this year it was no different as we dominated the categories that we participated in.”

“Communication skills are one of the most important skills someone can take into the workplace today,” said Toney. “Competing in this annual speech and drama festival allows students to sharpen those skills, as well represent their school while competing against other colleges from around the state.”

Limestone College took first place overall honors as this year’s Sweepstakes Winner. Colleges participating in the event included Tri-County, Furman University, USC Upstate, Newberry College, Lander University, Claflin University, Erskine College, Limestone College, Midlands Technical College and Greenville Technical College.

        The South Carolina Speech and Theatre Association is a professional organization that promotes the study of all areas of performance and oral communication: acting, oral interpretation/performance studies, theatre, broadcasting, public speaking, discussion and debate, and speech education. Its main purpose is the advancement of the total speech and theatre effort in the educational system of the state of South Carolina.  SCSTA serves both the public and private schools and the colleges and universities in South Carolina through an annual Conference and spring festival competitions in the Communication Arts, and through recognition of outstanding contributors to our efforts.  Membership is open to all persons interested in performance and other areas of oral communication and should be of special interest to persons teaching speech and drama courses at all levels.