Antioch Community High School’s speech team consists of many creative students with a passion to express different ideas and stories through their speaking. This team is led by the team captains, juniors Molly Adams and Elijah Ruano. 

Adams has been on the speech team since her freshman year. She has certain preparation methods to get her ready for a speech and explains how her methods help her in the long run.

“I usually prepare by rehearsing as much as I can,” Adams said. “[I practice] in front of other people/teammates, taking their critiques, and using the critiques to make my piece better. I also decided to perform my last speech in English class to prepare because it is always good to have an audience to see what others think when performing.”

Speech team is one activity that not all ACHS students know about. Although not many people are aware of this team, it is still important to students apart of the team. The National Federation of State High School Association explains how speech is beneficial to students. 

“Speech provides students an opportunity to develop skills in research, critical thinking, organization, persuasion and communication,” NFHS said. “These skills also benefit the student after high school.”

Junior Gloria Lobodzinski has been part of the speech team since her freshman year. She also has methods that help her when preparing to give a speech. 

“I usually practice my speech in front of family members and anyone else who is willing to listen,” Lobodzinski said. “Performing in front of an english class also helps with getting comfortable with the piece you are working on.”

Preparing in front of a group of people can help when formulating a speech. With the help of a good audience and exceptional work ethic, members of the team feel prepared to perform their speech at their events.