In what is quickly reviving an old school tradition, the Cotter speech team had a season filled with first place trophies and sent a number of students to the State meet.

The program continues to expand and flourish under the direction of coaches Deb Beckman and Amy French, there are students in each grade among the 57 speech team members.

Cotter speech team, as a group competing under Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) governance, has experienced several swings in popularity.

After a number of strong years under the direction of Katie Beadnall in the late 1980s early 90s, numbers waned after she went to teach in St. Paul.  Tony Baisley was a two time State champ and Erin Mulrooney and Jessy Schrandt also won gold medals in this period.  In 1989, the team earned five medals, in 1992, t six medals, and in 1993, seven medals at the State competition.

Following Beadnell’s departure the program lost numbers but had a revival in the 2000s, when Cotter teacher Mr. Dave Williams was one of the coaches from 2000-2008 coaching along with his wife Val Williams. After this period numbers again dropped.

When Mrs. Amy French and Mrs. Deb Beckman took over in 2013 there were only around four students participating.

Times have certainly changed. This year the team has 57 students participating. With the addition of offering speech to 6th graders at St. Stans, the coaches anticipate at least 12  incoming 7th graders to join next season, which could push the total number closer to 70 members for 2017.

There are several reasons the team has grown.  A large number of juniors are involved in the team and the coaches have convinced team members that their participation in speech will help them down the road.

“It’s fun and it is such a great life skill. Of any activity a student can do – being able to fluently speak in front of people is a skill that all will use after high school is over, ” coach Amy French said.

English teacher Emily Shriver is also helping to coach the team this year.

“It has been a successful season this year, ” Ms. Shriver said.

” It’s been fun to watch.  I also enjoy watching the success students have – either winning, or meeting personal goals,” Mrs. French added.

Speech, which is governed by the MSHSL,  has three large categories, which are interpretation, public address, and extemporaneous speaking. These categories are then broken down into 13 more specific areas of competition.

Interpretation categories include creative expression, serious drama interpretation, serious poetry interpretation, serious prose interpretation, storytelling, humorous interpretation, and duo interpretation.

Public address categories include great speeches, informative speaking, and original oratory.

Extemporaneous categories include discussion, extemporaneous reading, and extemporaneous speaking.

The students generally choose the categories they would like to compete in, coaches may give them direction or suggest pieces to practice and perform. The students also use the internet to research possible performance pieces and see techniques of other students in action.

Students generally have one formal 30 minute practice per week with a coach. Students set a time that fits the rest of their schedule.

“Practice is very flexible. The student can choose a time when they do not have other sports practice.” Ms. Shriver said.

31 Cotter students participated in the section speech meet on Saturday, April 9 in Byron: Gina Pham, Anna Engel, Tom Row, Jacob French, Noah Nachtigal, Alex Walechka, Sam Wantock, Tyler Nachtigal, John Weltzien, Maddie Walters, Steve Hadaway, Hannah Graff, Nick Berenak, Luke Broghammer, Viva Graff, Aidan Beckman, Tim Welch, Leo Zhang, David French, James Galke, Miriam Ellis, Timothy Zehr, Jakub Klas, Ellena Girma, Zoey Aune, Rita Row, Cecelia Welch, Noah French, Binh Thai, Nick Walechka, and Mary Morgan.

Seven members earned trophies at the MSHSL section 1A meet and earned a trip to the State meet at Lakeville.

Gina Pham took third place in serious drama interpretation, Aidan Beckman took second place in great speech, Miriam Ellis took second place in informative speaking, Jakub Klas took first place in original oratory, Noah French took first place in serious poetry interpretation, Noah Nachtigal and Alex Walechka took first place in Duo interpretation.

The  team earned a first place finish in the sub-sectional meet in Wabasha-Kellogg on April 4, 2016, finishing 104 points ahead of the second place team.

Mrs. French and Mrs.  Beckman both have children on the team.

“Parent coaching is tough and fun at the same time.  Tough in the sense that there is usually a lengthy discussion about writing and presentation style.  The fun part is spending time with my kids and really sharing a passion for the same activity.  Parents and kids do things together all of the time, speech just happens to be what my family does,” Mrs. Beckman said.

According to members of the speech team, The favorite part of speech team is atmosphere and meeting other students on the team and from other schools.

Also, many people talk to wall for practice in the meeting. “It is fun to go the city.” said Ms. Shriver

There are some challenges that team members face. Since most meets are on Saturday mornings, the might leave at 6 a.m. and return in the evening.

Another challenge is the fear factor of public speaking. “It is hard to rewrite, memorize, and give a speech to people who never met before,” junior Jakub Klas said.

The toughest part of being a coach for Mrs. French is that every member of the team goes out and gives 100%, but yet not everyone can win.  “I hate to see that disappointment, because I know, just speaking is a skill that will improve their lives.  They are all winners in my book.”

Her favorite part of the job is “seeing them succeed…either on stage or in a practice room, doing something they never thought they would be able to do.”

Mrs. Deb Beckman cites reading the judges handwriting on the critique sheets and getting up at 4:30 AM for meets as two challenges in coaching the team.

Mrs. Beckman enjoys working with the writing categories including great speeches, original oratory and informative speaking.  “For these categories the students research and write their own speech.  I love working with these categories because I learn things with the students.  This year I learned about Korean politics, specifics on food wasting and the history of Manga and Anime, just to name a few.”

Like Mrs. French, Mrs. Beckman took pride in the success of the team members.

“All 13 of the students I coached this year made the stage (speech lingo for receiving an award) during the regular season and three went on to state.  I’m very proud of all of them, ” Beckman said.

Mrs. Beckman’s son Aidan was a State champion in great speeches as a sophomore and qualified for the final round at State this year as a junior.

For more information please follow these links:

http://mshsl.org/mshsl/publications/code/yearbook/Speech.pdf

history of MN State speech champions

MSHSL site detailing requirements of each category:  http://www.mshsl.org/mshsl/publications/code/finepolicy/Speech.htm?ne=9

Section meet results: https://www.speechwire.com/r-tournament.php?tournid=4476

http://www.mshsl.org/mshsl/speech/showsectionresults.asp (Choose section 1A from view other section)

 Ms. Shriver coaching Jakub. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ghJ7Pe_j3

Jakub at speech practice. https://youtu.be/3AXbw4S_EWU