2/25/11 BYOM

Here's my Hi-Spot article on it. (Thus the reason I was there other than to support the speech team)

The first annual Big Yearly Oral Mosaic and Bring Your Own Mug (BYOM2) took off the evening of February 25th with several speeches presented for the Waverly community. The purpose of BYOM2 was to have a public performance of the speech events and have a fundraiser at the same time.

“BYOM2 is a showcase for the speech team, kinda like a speech meet except there are not other schools here competing, so basically our kids just present what they have for an audience. It’s a way to get community members to come see a speech meet because nobody wants to see a whole day’s worth of speeches,” said Blake Tobey, head speech coach.

Attendance was high and rooms were packed with people. The commons were crowded with comfortable chairs, beanbags and a couch surrounded by more than a dozen dimly lit lights. Free coffee, tea and treats were consumed throughout the night as people watched speeches and interpretations. The night was split into two main parts: the first half of the night was for 12 individual speeches including: Entertainment, Poetry, Informative, Extemp, Impromptu, Serious and Humorous speeches. After a quick break for coffee and treats, the night resumed with three group performances.

The idea for BYOM2 was brought up by Tobey and Erin Konecky, assistant speech coach.

“When I was at my former school I was looking for a way to get the community and the school more aware of what the speech team does... so I put on a public showcase where every student that competed got to give their speech for an audience.” Konecky said

”Speech team is a lot like your track team. They do a lot of work but nobody really goes to watch it... you don’t really get any glory for what you do. This is an opportunity for the students to receive the recognition they really deserve,” said Tobey. After such a great turnout, BYOM2 is planned to continue through the years.