Tri-County Technical College students take top awards at 2020 SCSTA College Festival event
March 12, 2020
Tri-County Technical College’s speech team members brought home top awards at the 2020 South Carolina Speech and Theater Association’s Annual College Festival Competition.
Three Tri-County university transfer students competed, along with students from colleges and universities from across the state, at the University of South Carolina-Lancaster February 15.
Gracie Stockman placed first in Persuasive Speaking; Elizabeth Rew placed first in Informative Speaking; and Annabelle Matthews placed second in Persuasive Speaking. Stockman is a special education major from Lugoff; Rew is a business major from Columbia; and Matthews is an agriculture major from Jacksonville, FL.
The Tri-County Technical College Speech and Drama Team is coached by speech instructors Greg Toney and Kim Harp.
“We have been taking teams to this competition for more than 20 years. This is a great opportunity for students to develop important communications skills and do it in a competitive environment. Everyone worked hard and was deserving of success,” said Toney.
“My goal is to go to these competitions and be competitive,” said Toney. “It’s a challenge to compete every year against schools such as Newberry College or USC-Lancaster that actually have four-year programs in theater and speech. We always have success and this year it was no different as we dominated the categories that we participated in.”
“Communication skills are one of the most important skills someone can take into the workplace today,” added Harp. “Competing in this annual speech and drama festival allows students to sharpen those skills, as well as represent their schools while competing against other colleges from around the state.”
The South Carolina Speech and Theatre Association is a professional organization that promotes the study of all areas of performance and oral communication: acting, oral interpretation/performance studies, theatre, broadcasting, public speaking, discussion and debate, and speech education. Its main purpose is the advancement of the total speech and theatre effort in the educational system of the state of South Carolina. SCSTA serves both the public and private schools and the colleges and universities in South Carolina through an annual conference and spring festival competitions in the communication arts, and through recognition of outstanding contributors to efforts. Membership is open to all persons interested in performance and other areas of oral communication and should be of special interest to persons teaching speech and drama courses at all levels.
