By Pam Paz
The speech team will travel to the Phi Ro Pi Region 6 speech and debate competition at Tyler Junior College March 7-9. They compete in public speaking and oral interpretation.
Speech Coordinator Jolinda Ramsey will accompany the five team members to the competition.
This college’s speech team has been participating in this competition for more than 30 years, fine arts Chair Jeff Hunt said.
Regional winners will advance to the national tournament April 7-12 at the Renaissance Denver Hotel in Colorado.
Public speaking categories include persuasive speeches, informative speeches and after-dinner speaking.
Programmed oral interpretation consists of prose, poetry and dramatic interpretation.
Reader’s theater is a new category in competition this year. It involves a dramatic reading of a text.
The speeches will be on topics including the re-emergence of the Ku Klux Klan, boys who dress like girls known as “princess boys,” and tributes to individuals. Speeches are limited to 10 minutes.
Teams of speech sophomores Kirk Cox and Terran Duhon, and drama freshman Esau Perez and speech sophomore Nathan Prince will enter programmed duo oral interpretation.
Speech freshman Anzlie Lowak will enter solo in persuasive, informative and programmed interpretation.
Cox will participate in poetry interpretation and reader’s theater. Duhone is preparing for after-dinner speaking, funny persuasive speaking, dramatic play interpretation and prose.
Perez and Prince will compete individually in prose and reader’s theater.
Ramsey said the students have done well enough to advance.
The team rehearses about 10-12 hours per week. Individual practices are on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Hunt said the speech team has made nationals several times in the last 30 years and placed fifth in last year’s national competition, the Phi Rho Pi Speech and Debate Tournament in Los Angeles.
Cox and Prince received gold medals in programmed duo oral interpretation.
Hunt said a “friendly rivalry” is shared among many of the team’s competitors.
He said the team’s biggest competition this year is North Harris College, one of the six colleges in the Lone Star College system in Houston.
For information, call the fine arts department at 210-486-0494.
