2012 Workshop Inquiry Letter
sgrantham@dunlapcusd.net; worrells@oss-shamrocks.com; ccoons@monroe70.org; ladd_druh@hotmail.com; yelms@billtown.org; kmartin@emsd63.org; swilliams@chathamschools.org; gmoore@midland-7.org; ballardt@schools.mtco.com; msteiner@rockridgeschools.org; MNelson@dunlapcusd.net; heather@tremont702.org; kjenkins@rb60.com
Hello, fellow speech-ers. I need your help if you’ll be attending the IESA speech thingie in September. Nicole has asked me to do a little musical bit at the beginning…and no, you won’t have to sing (although Steve should). At the end of the song I’d like to do a little “testimonial” time. That is, while the music continues under, have various ones of you stand up and give a short presentation of a real “victory”… a highlight of your career coaching speech. This might be a student who you thought would never make it, but did gloriously….a student who because of their instruction in speech put that skill to good use in his or her life…. A moment when a student really came through at the finish line…. a story told you by a parent about how speech competition has improved their child’s life, self-esteem, etc. … If indeed you would agree to take part, I’d like you to send the story to me. I’ll edit them down to give the piece a flow, then send them back to you…or at the very latest hand them to you on the day of our workshop. It’s a comedy song, but I’d like to end with a nice, emotional punch in the gut to start our day off with some real encouragement. And if you have absolutely no interest or inclination, then heck…go become an athletic director! See if I care! Thanks to you all… Ken
SHAYLA GRANTHAM: She was a talented actress, but she’d done no theatre. She could sing, she could dance, and she could act, but she’d never done anything with it…until she joined our speech team. I worked with her for two years and kept encouraging her to audition for more theatre…I spoke to her parents. This past summer she finally took a chance and auitioned….She got a role in Les Miserables. GINNY MOORE: She was in special ed, had no support from home, lived in a house with 11 people, and shared an unheated garage with her grandmother, mom and two brothers. They had no money to buy gas and drive her to practice, so we made a game of it. We rehearsed before school, lunch hour, any time we could. I thought she should do a duet so she’d have some help, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She wanted to do The True Story of the Three Little Pigs as a solo. One week before contest she came to me in tears. Her family was going to move away before the contest. I begged and pleaded and the family let her stay to go to contest. She received a first place from the judge and it was changed to 2nd because of timing, but you’d have thought she’d won an academy award. She left our school on a high note. Through speech she’d proved to her family and herself that she could conquer! STEVE WILLIAMS: The four 12-year-old girls came into my room on the Monday before contest. They were in tears. The fifth member of their group could not attend the contest on Saturday. Her mother insisted on taking her to St. Louis to shop. We had two options…one was to drop out of the contest and the other was illegal. A young lady in my class saw all the crying and came up to ask what was going on. She was a little awkward and very shy, but she said, “I can do it.” I looked at the other girls and said, “She can do it.” The other four were so relieved that they forgot they weren’t friends with the shy girl. They hammered out a four-day rehearsal schedule and the next day the new girl came with the whole script memorized. She did a wonderful job and the group got special recognition. …but more than that, they became friends. Out of all the kids I’ve coached, that shy little girl is the one I’m most proud of.
STACEY WORRELL: This summer a college sophomore approached me in Jimmy John’s with tears in his eyes. He said, “Mrs. Worrell you introduced me to drama and I just want to thank you. I’m majoring in drama and some day I hope to inspire kiddos like you inspired me. And oh….here are tickets to my next play.” And I thought Jimmy John’s was just freaky fast and not tear-filled.
Stacey Worrell worrells@oss-shamrocks.com