<p>High school kids like football and basketball games better than speech competitions because they are more fun. There is so much social activity going on at those events; it is like going to a party. At speech competitions, all one can do is sit quietly and listen, which is worse even than going to class, where you can at least engage in a discussion. (not saying the speeches aren’t fascinating, I’m just talking about the social/physical aspect of it).</p>
<p>(I was a district champ in speech years ago, so I totally support speech, but) aren’t the speeches the same at each progressive level of competition? That is how it was when I did it. I can’t imagine spectator kids wanting to go to these events if they are hearing the same speeches over and over.</p>
<p>When you complain about how “the school,” handles recognition, think about what “the school” really means. Our high school has an athletic director who coordinates all the rallies and publicity. So here we’ve got a professional whose paid position is handling the p.r. and promoting the teams. He is “the school” when it comes to getting the word out. For speech, we have volunteer moms and a teacher advisor. That is going to make a big difference in how much recognition gets out there.</p>