Logansport HS speech team forms special familial bond

Dec. 8—Logansport High School speech and debate coach Jessica Kranz stood in front of her team of students, preparing them for the first competition of the season.

When Kranz had to step away her mother and fellow speech coach, Joyce Pasel, took over.

Much like a mother, Pasel informed the students that if they needed any clothing adjustments she was there to help.

"If you are having a problem with a hem please don't wait until Saturday morning at 7 o'clock," she said. "I can do a lot of sewing but I need extra time to do that."

Pasel is more than just the team's seamstress. Her feedback and direction are just as important to each team member as that of her daughter.

It's a cliché to call any team a family, but watching the team dynamics through multiple practices it's easy to see it's the reality, from big sisters Jasmine Zimmerman and Carissa Dawson, both seniors, preparing the younger students for what to expect Saturday during the first competition to the heartfelt hugs Emily Sanchez, also a senior, gave to Kranz and Pasel before departing at the end of practice.

Last March, the Logansport speech and debate team were competing for a state championship. The Berries finished in fifth place in the class AA team competition and 10th overall.

Saturday morning, the team will start all over again as Logansport High School hosts its first competition since 2018.

Eleven different schools will compete in categories that include discussion, impromptu, informative, declamation and radio.

Zimmerman, Dawson and Sanchez will each compete in program oral interpretation (POI), a form of speech where the speaker performs a combination of prose, poetry or dramatic work.

Zimmerman's speech centers around mental illness. Dawson will speak about female victims of abduction. For Sanchez, her speech focuses on a pregnant Latina teen.

Kranz said she felt the speech team had been "blessedly burdened to inform society about topics that are tough."

As a parent, she said, Dawson's speech troubled her but as a society, she felt the issues the students were bringing into their work needed to be addressed.

"You can sprinkle glitter on everything, yes, but you still have tough issues we have to address," she said. "If our kids can take these tough issues and present them in a mature way that makes people stop and think, then they have done their job and we have helped them spread their words to other listening ears."

"The kids know when they are giving you a rough topic and they are maybe reluctant," Pasel said. "I always tell them 'you have a job at a speech meet.' If I am a judge, I should always come out knowing more about a subject than I did when I went in."

She said that Sanchez was worried that her speech might anger someone to which Pasel responded "good. I hope it does."

"I told her 'if you change one person's opinion, all of this is worth it," she said.

"We have a responsibility with these kids to let them know that what they are saying really does matter," said Kranz. "Other extracurriculars and sporting events matter, of course. They are absolutely valuable to the growth of these kids, but our responsibility is so different because it's personal for them but we are helping them advocate. We are helping them represent and dig deeper into some of these pockets of society that may be unchecked and underappreciated and under-represented."

Logansport Community School Corporation superintendent Michele Starkey said she thought one of the many benefits of taking speech or participating on the team was that students learned to advocate for themselves.

Sanchez said before speech she didn't speak up or express her opinion. She's thankful that speech taught her to do so.

All three students have been changed as a member of the speech team

"Before (speech) I was very shy and timid," Sanchez recalled. "I would keep things to myself. There was not much eye contact."

Last year as a junior, Sanchez took a speech class with Kranz. She credited the class for helping her to branch out.

Dawson is an active member of LHS theater and the Junior Civic Theater. She was most recently onstage as the mayor of Bikini Bottom in "SpongeBob: The Musical."

"I feel like a lot of people say that speech has made it easier for them to talk in front of people but I already had a feel for that," she said. "(Being part of the team) helped me be more confident when I am doing these things because you get to work on a piece and you really get to make a piece your own. In doing that you find your voice."

Zimmerman has been involved with the team the longest, starting her sophomore year. She joined in the middle of the season, fell in love with speech and ended up going to state.

"I feel like when I first joined speech, I wasn't exactly sure how to express my emotions in a verbal way," Zimmerman said. "Even though I'm not up there telling people how I feel, I'm still expressing emotions I haven't been able to get out before. I feel like speech has really taught me how to express those emotions verbally. Kranz has always said to 'speak your word' and I feel like that is just indented in my head."

Kranz is a gentle coach capable of bringing out the best in her students with a smile and encouragement. She and her mother are able to guide students through their performances with feedback that doesn't bring the students down but encourages them to take ownership of their performances.

Sanchez credited Kranz for teaching her that it was ok to make mistakes. She said the speech coaching staff helped her become more comfortable in her own skin.

"I don't think (Kranz) knows how much she impacts students," Sanchez said. "She's great."

"I think my biggest high school regret has been not joining speech sooner," Dawson said. "I think everyone should get out of their comfort zone and do it because it is so rewarding. You make so many friends and you grow so much as a person."

Zimmerman said being a part of the speech team has made her feel empowered. Her first year on the team she focused on mental health. Last year she went with a different topic and found she lacked the passion she previously had. But the excitement is there again as she prepares to debut her new speech about mental health on Saturday.

"I'm not telling a sad story," she said. "I'm saying words that will hopefully affect people positively and shine light on a dark topic. Hopefully that's what I am doing."

"These seniors came to us with zero public speaking experience," Kranz said. "I think it endears them to our new members in a different way. They are able to say 'I was in that same position. I was timid. I was completely scared about speech.' I think that allows the new students to maybe not feel quite so daunted."

Pasel said that she saw the speech team as microcosm of kids who are good at heart but struggled to find their place.

"But here they are," she said. "You have kids who have latched on to you."

"We're not just a group but we are also a family," Zimmerman said. "As the season goes on, we really start to trust these people who we are performing in front of and we create these bonds that I would never have expected. It lets you get out there and have this chance to express these emotions. I feel like speech has really, really affected me in a positive way."