Senior Emmie Esch sits quietly in their seat with the rest of the students. They look at the time and realize it’s time for the next section. They volunteer to go first, as they head up to the front of the classroom they make a chart as they write their code and their name down. They then write the name of the piece they will be reciting Standing up there in their blazer, skirt and button up shirt. They hold their little black binder as they look around the room to see if everyone is ready. They begin to read the piece.

Esch has been in the Speech and Debate program all four years of their high school career participating in the competitive drama part of the program. Esch feels that speech has helped with personal growth. 

“I think getting to express yourself without having to get personal,” Esch said. “I don’t write anything, I perform, I have to take different things like books and plays other people write and cut them together and form them into my own thing. I get to use other people’s writings to tell my story.’” 

Esch has done poetry, dramatic interpretation, duo interpretation and pros for the speech and debate program. Senior Evan Funk believes that they have a great impact on the program.

“Their willingness to step up to a position when it’s needed, they did a really good job running one of the areas during our tournament,” Funk said. “It ran really well and I think Emmie deserves a lot of credit for how it ran.” 

Esch has no plans for what they want to do after high school but know they want to do something that has to do with working with kids. Senior Cadence Meany-Jackson thinks that Esch helped to encourage her to be more confident.

“We used to do plays together when we were younger and during that time Emmie was one of the people that really helped me get out of my shell,” Meany-Jackson said. “I don’t talk very much and Emmie is one of the people who really helped me be able to be more open during that time.”

They are also involved in the theatre program and have been doing that for four years as well. Esch feels speech and debate has helped them come out of their shell.

“It’s definitely helped my confidence and work on my public speaking skills,” Esch said. “It has also helped me grow as an actor because you get to watch other people perform so you get to learn from them as well as your coach, your teammates and yourself.”

Once they finish they begin their intro into their own piece. They explain that it is a combination of different poems they have put together. They begin to read their own piece as everything falls silent again. They finish and walk back to their seat, proud of what they just did.