The Eden Valley-Watkins speech team continues to impress the community every year, and this year is no exception. Not only did the team place first at Sub-Sections for the fourth year in a row, but they were also the runner-up team at Sections.
The speech team has a group of leaders who help motivate and inspire the team to do their best; they are the speech captains. The captains who are juniors this year are Shelby Kuechle, Maggie Schmaltz, Jada Jesberg, and Hannah Holmberg. Nathan Utecht, Dyani Acosta, Kaitlyn Gruber, and Maggie Ludwig are senior captains.
Speech helps students gain many skills that are needed in life in the future, and even in the present. ?ÄúI lecture at church sometimes, and people comment to me that I am very good at articulating and speaking,?Äù Kuechle said. ?ÄúAlso, many people tell me that they wish that they were able to have classes and speech to help them with that life skill.?Äù Public speaking is a skill that helps people learn how to speak in front of crowds without being afraid, and helps build confidence in meeting new people.
Students in speech take pride in their speech careers. In fact, Kuechle claims, ?ÄúIt is amazing to see the seventh-graders and realize that?Äôs where you started out in speech. I can?Äôt believe that I have grown so much, and have gotten so much better as the years went on.?Äù
The Eden Valley-Watkins speech team has many tips on how to conquer the nerves that they felt as well. Before every speech meet, the team gathers in a large circle and does warm-ups. Warm-ups are activities and games that help get the teams psyched up and calm their nerves before a big meet. Junior Captain Maggie Schmaltz says, ?ÄúThe team is great at working together. Some of the things that we do to work together are helping the younger students feel welcome. We do this by having buddy practices, and have older students who have been in the same category as them, give them pointers on how to make their speeches better.?Äù Schmaltz also added that the team also practices Power Poses. Power poses are a form of body language that instead of making you feel small and nervous, they make you more positive and confident. This can happen simply by putting your arms on your hips like a superhero.
Captain Kuechle said ?ÄúI joined Speech because of the recruits that Ms. Spohn sent to the elementary school when I was in sixth grade. I was watching a student give a speech, and I was thinking to myself ?ÄòHow can someone make me feel this way just by talking??Äô That is what made me want to join speech. I wanted to make people feel this way when I talked.?Äù There are many other reasons why students join the EV-W Speech Team, and that is what makes it so successful.
The Speech coaches give the students the tools that they need to succeed. Kuechle says ?ÄúThe coaches never say it is about winning, it is about succeeding, and trying your hardest.?Äù
The Eden Valley-Watkins speech team was very successful this year. The team is sending four students off to State competition Saturday, April 22, at Apple Valley. Shelby Kuechle will compete in Creative Expression, Maggie Schmaltz in Great Speeches, Nathan Utecht in Discussion, and Anna Kahlstorf in Informative.
Four members of the EV-W speech team placed second at the April 8 section meet and will advance to state April 21-22. From left are Nathan Utecht, Anna Kahlstorf, Shelby Kuechle, and Maggie Schmaltz. Submitted photo.