← Speeches & Workshops

To the Rochester Board of Education,

My name is Ken Bradbury. I taught at Triopia for 35 years and I now am an adjunct professor at Lincoln Land. For 40 years I’ve written materials for speech contests, served on the state IESA speech advisory committee for over 30 years, and have judged speech contests all over the state…Chicago to the southern tip. It’s been my pleasure over the years to judge the students at Rochester in their IESA speech work on many occasions. Folks, I have not found a single school in the state of Illinois who can hold a candle to the program you have at Rochester. I am embarrassed that I don’t even know all the names of the coaches, but it’s been pretty much the same group year after year. Yes, you have good kids. Yes, you have great community support, and yes apparently the administration supports the program enthusiastically, but many other schools have those assets as well. What Rochester has is a hard working, demanding, loving, and dedicated group of speech coaches who should serve as the working model for all other schools in the state. The goal of IESA speech is not to turn out Hollywood or Broadway stars, but to develop self-confidence in the young people of Illinois. That’s exactly what I see happening year after year at Rochester. I know that as a school board you have many matters on your plate so I thought I’d take a moment to simply draw attention to this specific program that absolutely excels. I’m sure you have many fine programs. So…I’ve said my piece.

Sincerely,

Ken Bradbury

p.s. One minor gripe. Twice I’ve been stopped by the Rochester police when I failed to remember that the speed limit is 55 on that blasted stretch of highway. The good news: the cops were more than polite and I received only warning tickets. Hey! It LOOKS like a 65!