Photo by Speaker from another school. HHS Speakers standing proudly after their second tournament.
Students come back to the Speech club after the summer off. Veterans of speech notice all the incoming members and possibilities.
“My favorite thing about speech is seeing and helping all the new faces that join the team,” senior Jonathan Schmidt said.
Although there is hope for success this year, in previous years Hastings and many other rural schools didn’t see this kind of hope. According to the National Speech and Debate Association, the top ten schools who place in Nebraska are all from urban areas except for three. The top 3 are from either Lincoln or Omaha. This doesn’t discourage members of the team like Schmidt because of plans to persevere and work hard in the future.
“We have gone up against schools like Millard in debate and excelled in a lot of cases. It really depends on how well we can speak this year,” Schmidt said.
At their first tournament, the speech team brought home a 5th place award for Sophomore Cori Barwick’s entertainment speech.
Barwick talks about how she feels like the resources given to Hastings in comparison to larger schools makes it harder to place. Saying that the size of the team impacts the amount of placers.
“I also think that it will always be easier for a team of 80 to have more people placed than a team of 15,” Barwick said.
Barwick reflects on her accomplishment and explains her emotions while winning.
“When I won the award I was shocked and very excited,” Barwick said.
Barwick winning the award motivated her to try to continue placing at tournaments. Barwicks win created hope within not just herself, but also within the team. The team also saw success as a whole, achieving 12th place out of 22 schools.
“I see so much potential. I am so excited for their future,” speech coach Emily Thomas said.
Ms. Thomas is also a new member of the Speech team. Before her job at Hastings, she was an Assistant Speech coach at Lincoln Southwest for five years. Lincoln Southwest, According to the NSDA, is number three in the entire state for Speech and Debate.
“While we may not have the resources or numbers of a bigger school here in Hastings, I am trained in the Class A competitive style. I know what to expect and how to coach at a high caliber of competition,” said Ms. Thomas.
Ms. Thomas talks about what she wants to achieve for this season, explaining how as long as her students are enjoying Speech, her goals have been met.
“I want kids to join speech and to enjoy what they’re doing. No matter how successful we are (or aren’t), my hope is for kids to feel proud of what they’ve accomplished, and to build their sense of confidence. .” Ms. Thomas said.
