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Four Speech Team members now headed to nationals
March 10, 2005 | ||||||
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By Lesa Beals KOKOMO, Ind.—It is not necessary to belong to a big name school to have a top-notch team. Indiana University Kokomo's speech team has proven that again. On February 5, the team qualified two novice members to compete in the National Forensic Tournament, Chad Andrews of Sharpsville and Grace Keith of Kokomo. The team competed in its fourth meet at the Indiana State Individual Events Tournament hosted by University of Indianapolis on February 27. At that event, an additional two members qualified for the national tournament—Rachel Harrington of Rochester and Shane Vore of Kokomo—, and Andrews double qualified. Andrews and Keith qualified at the earlier match with a Duo Prose piece. Andrews earned his second entry to the national tournament on February 27, with a Novice Extemporaneous speech. Harrington also qualified in Novice Extemporaneous, while Vore placed with a Program of Oral Interpretation. “This team's success is built upon working together as a team,” said Coach Jaime Howell, lecturer in communications arts. “The students know that teamwork is a natural part of becoming the best IU Kokomo has to offer.” In extemporaneous speaking, a competitor is given three topics in current events to choose from and 30 minutes to prepare a seven-minute persuasive speech. Each competitor has a team box with news clippings to use as evidence to support their speech. A Program of Oral Interpretation is a presentation of thematically linked selections of prose, poetry, and drama. The competitor gives a dramatic reading of the selections in 10 minutes. The National Forensics Tournament on April 14–17 at the University of Akron (Ohio) will be the team's first competition at the national level. Only those competing and the coach will attend. When asked how they felt about competing at that level, all were pleased to able to represent the Indiana University Kokomo Speech team. “We have worked so hard to build ourselves as a team. After only a handful of tournaments, we have qualified half the team to nationals,” said Harrington. The team will be able to get down to business and “practice, practice, practice” for the national competition. “I predict the national tournament will be a great pedagogical experience for our students,” said Howell. “We will go with our best and return to IU Kokomo a stronger and more experienced squad.” “The speech team has been the buzz on campus. It is easy to understand why. The team is excelling and continues to build on their momentum,” she added. When asked if the team could expect the same level of success when it adds parliamentary debate to its efforts next fall, Howell said, “We will only be able to excel if we can increase the financial support from the university and area businesses.” The team grew faster and competed better than initially anticipated, she said. “At the end of the day, the squad's success can only be accredited to a great institution that supports the growth of academic programs such as the IU Kokomo Speech Team.” The team will also be hosting the campus' second Speech Olympics on April 26, at 7 p.m. in Kresge Auditorium. The nationally qualified Prose Duo of Keith and Andrews will be the intermission feature. Campus community and the public are invited. Those interested in contributing to or trying out for the team can contact Howell at jllhowell@iuk.edu or (765) 455-9003.
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