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Tiny school fields eager speech team By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune BUTTE FALLS - After a bumpy start, the speech team is off to the races at this town's tiny 80-student high school. With more than 10 percent of the student body involved in the fledgling team, teacher Marcia Stewart-Warren said her nine students have done well at recent local competitions. The team received notice recently that it has become an affiliate member of the National Forensic League, made up of 2,600 schools and more than 1 million students in America. Schools that want to participate in national championships must belong to the league. Stewart-Warren tried to start a speech team three years ago, but curtailed her activities because of illness. Student interest and her own enthusiasm got the program off to a good start this year. At two tournaments, one in Eagle Point and the other in Medford, students walked away with various awards recently. At the Medford tournament, 20 of Butte Falls' 80 students turned out, many coming just to earn extra credit for other classes. "We've got so much interest in this at our school," said Stewart-Warren. The school conducts fund-raisers and has received some small grants that pay for the speech program. Since the teacher is also a judge at many of the competitions, she knows a lot about crafting speeches. "If there's anything that bores me a little bit, then we cut it," she said. At some point, Stewart-Warren hopes to also have a debate team. In the meantime, students welcome having their team again and the support of their teacher. Speech team member Stacy Smith said, "We're happy she's doing better." Smith, a senior, remembers going to one tournament as a sophomore, but after the teacher became ill, the program couldn't go on. Smith, who took a third in the speech tournament at Medford, was preparing her speech for a tournament in Eugene this weekend that is based on the trial of Elizabeth Diane Downs, convicted of killing one of her children and wounding two others. The 17-year-old takes on the voices of six primary characters in the case, including doctors, attorneys, the children and their mother. Since the 10-minute speech is mostly dialogue with a little narration, Smith has to change her entire persona for each character. In one scene, she is the attorney asking one of the children questions about the shooting. "I get a little nervous," acknowledges Smith. "I'm just starting to get the speech down." Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.