First Tournament of the Season is a Success

SPRINGFIELD, IL (October 7, 2020) – The speech and debate competition season has begun! The Prairie Star speech and debate team participated in the Crimson Classic speech tournament hosted by the University of Alabama this past week. This competition took place asynchronously meaning students recorded their speeches and shared those recordings online. The speeches were viewed by judges throughout the week and the top scoring students were announced over the weekend.

Senior Sarah Burris represented UIS at this competition. She entered poetry interpretation and received some excellent scores and comments from her judges. One judge complimented her on the selection of excellent poems for her performance. As the performance is new for this season, every ballot helps as Burris continues refining her speech for the next competition.

“Everything about this season is different” says the coach of the team Timothy Bill. “We’re writing speeches online, we’re practicing online, and we’re competing online. It’s a different experience, but valuable in its own ways, especially since the whole world has moved online since March.”

The University of Illinois Springfield Speech and Debate Team is committed to training the next generation of civic leaders, public speakers, and communicators who are passionate about effecting change in their communities. Students who are interested in joining the team should reach out to the coach Timothy Bill (tbill2@uis.edu) or check out the team website at Speech and Debate site.