Memorial High School - Reata Yearbook (Houston, TX)

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SPEECH, DRA Takin life a ...M little ea ier Nervousness and practice Create change from podium to stage SPEECH earning communication, voice control, self-confidence, and pub- lic speaking arejust a few things taught in speech by Department Chairman Mrs. Edelweiss Ames. The course consists of two quarters of public speaking, in which the stu- dents learn the five types of speech: speech to persuade, convince, inform. inspire and entertain, and one quarter of oral interpretation, poetry, storytell- ing, humorous and dramatic interpreta- tionsf' said Mrs. Ames. Mrs. Ames also said that the class debated, researched, and learned how to break bad speaking habits and to cut out expressions of speech. Everybody at one time or another is going to have to get up and express themselves. They should get over stage fright and then apply the energies of a well applied speech and presentation, said Mrs. Ames. By the end of the course the students should be able to write a speech, research, have good appearance and good manners. Junior Melanie Chap- man said, I have learned to trust other people because they won't laugh at me when lim speaking. It helps me communicate with my friends and parents betterf' said Junior Steve McGaugh. Sophomore Matt Kenicott said speech helped him to pick out better speaking topics. Mrs. Ames said there is a future in speech for those who go out and seek it. Newscasting, radio, commentating, theatre, and movies arejust a few fields that speech will have an influence on. I want to be an actress or singer, said Freshman Sharon Nicles. It helps me in salesmanship because it teaches me how to sell, said Junior Green Shorts. PRACTISING ONE OF THEIR MANY ACTS, Sen- iors Rusty Marks and Lisa Counts come close to perfection. The stage helps make a realistic atmosphere. Photo by Kathy Epps. GIVING A SPEECH ON ABORTION Kyle Logan tells the class the negative side of abortion. Lis- tening patiently are George Robles, Barbara Gannon and Billy Denike. Photo by Judy Ander- ton. WITH A PERSUASIVE MANNER, Junior Mickey Searles speaks to his fellow students in his speech class. Speeches and persuasion, debates, and a mock trial were some of the stu- dents' assignments. Photo by Bill Montgomery. Speech, Drama 5 svn. 1 'Lk No........l--

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DURING DEBATE CLASS, Senior Elizabeth Har- rison times the debaters. She QEIizabethJ and I debated at Bellaire and Westbury, said Senior Kim Morris. We won two and lost two in prel- ims. Photo by Bill Montgomery. LAST MINUTE HOMEWORK captivates Senior Kim Morris while a debate is held between two of her classmates. I always liked good argu- ments and hearing other people's opinions, said Kim. Once I got in it fDebatej I enjoyed the people that were involved. Photo by Bill Montgomery. THE TIME WAS LATE March. The setting was the Texas State Debate Finals Tour- nament in Waco. The place was a small hotel room on a cold evening on the outskirts of Waco. Inside the confines of many other similar hotel rooms in town were nervous debate teams from all across the state with drawers and files full of thou- sands of evidence cards. The tone of most of these rooms was quiet anticipation. yet in this room. things were somewhat different. Inside this room sat Senior Jay Gross who was laughing and smiling. and Gross has filled his drawers and cases not with evi- dence. but rather with cakes and cookies. Many teams liked to use lots of evidence. and I suppose l'm a bit lazy. said Gross. but I feel speaking to judges with more analysis and persuasion could be equally as effective. Gross, now in his third year of debating. felt he'd gotten more out of taking debate than just improvements on speaking tech- niques. l've really improved upon my self-confidence and I think l've gained a real spirit of camaraderie. he said. Gross felt that the satisfaction of doing well inspired a debater to do well in the many tourna- ments he attended. You gained so many friends and memories just by going to the tourna- ments. Gross said. -30- - Bohln' Lapin Debcle I37

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rf. ' feli- fc' f--39' ,Wg ,ave .Lp .,.4 i THESPIAN MEMBERS ARE, FIRST ROW: Linda Ewing, Sabrina Stuard, David Olive, and Paul Fromburg. SECOND ROW: Patti Mooney, Stuart Newburg, Doreen Stotler, Betty Jackson, Dirk Silva, Lisa Counts and Joe Corriere. STANDING: Diana Sitter, Kirby Lee and Rusty Marks. DRAMA LOOKS BEST when performed in a lying position, as Doreen Stoller exhibits. Doreen per- formed in several drama productions. Photo by Bill Montgomery. DRAMA rama. taught by Mr. R. L. Cook. helped two students. The student who wanted to develop self-confidence and the ability to work in front of peo- ple. and the student who was serious about going into acting. KNO matter which student one is. Drama makes them-a more appreciative public for a theatrical performance. said Cook. Studying various types of oral per- formances. the history of the theatre. how to read a play. developing a char- acter and basic acting techniques. and learning technical theatre Chow to light a show, make-up, set designs, costume designs, and publicity methodsj were things that went on in Drama I. Mr. Cook said that the students per- formed movement compositions, com- municated without sound. originalskit comedies which the students wrote, scenes from classical as well as modern plays. and improvisations. From all of this the students learned how to act. direct and design. The productions done on stage were separate from the drama class but the performers applied what they have learned from Drama I on stage. said Mr. Cook. Cook added that drama could be applied to t.v., the cinema. and stage work. There is good money in being a ticket manager or publicity manager and drama would definitely help with a business career where one must be able to communicate effectively, said Mr. Cook' 1 30 - Jonathan Lack FLUSHED FACE. dry mouth. uncont- rolled stam- mering and i vigorous knee- l knocking are i all symptoms of the pre- speech student. along with a space in the schedule that is begging to be filled by an easy course. Senior Janet Hacker confessed I hate getting up in front of people. and said she took speech because it's good practice for me to be in front of people. At the first of the year we did things to loosen people up. said Janet. These included speeches to tell the class about each other. and were mainly used to help the students feel comfortable around one another. After the preliminaries were over. Mrs. Edelweiss Ames began assign- ing a steady stream of speeches in order to acquaint the classes with the different types of speeches and what their purposes were. We had units - we did different types of speeches like speeches to inform. speeches to persuade. to sell things. and demon- stration speeches. said Janet. We did a tribute speech and I did my grandfather. I had to ask my mom a bunch of questions and I found out all sorts of stuff. That was one of my favorite speeches. Many of the speeches require extra research. but the amount of research actually done varies from student to student. She gives us a lot of time but we don't really use it. It depends on what the assignment is. We were debating on abortion and my partner and I had a whole lot of research. One of the highlights of the year was the mock trial. Everyone took it very seriously . . . it was like real, said Janet. There were lawyers . Defendants, witnesses and the judges even wore robes. I get embarrassed in front of peo- ple but not as much as I used to. said Janet. A sympathetic audience of similarly frightened people can make all the difference in the world. -30- - Sheqfl Sanders Speech, Drama I39