With the start of the new school year, clubs and activities at PHS have wasted no time in kicking off their seasons with informational meetings and new member orientations.

The Speech Team is no exception among the dozens of these clubs at Palatine High School. To welcome the new school year, the Speech Team hosted their annual ice cream social on Sept. 1. Hoping to attract new members, they met all of the fresh faces with enthusiasm. This years captains– America Perez, Jessica Gul, and Nidhi Khare– spoke about the various events one may compete in.

There are many types of speeches that can be given, from the poised public address speeches that one may see on a TED Talk to the hilarious, if somewhat irreverent, acting and comedy speeches which one may see on Saturday Night Live. Whether one just wants to recite poetry, or talk politics, the speech team has something for everybody.

A large portion of the new members are those students involved in the theatre who are hoping to fine-tune their craft with the one-on-one coaching of Speech Team. Coaches Neal Heatherly and Adam Lamb have a Masters degree in communications and a degree in theatre, respectively, so it is a good place for those budding thespians.

However, there are plenty of students who come for the reason that they share America’s greatest fear of public speaking. With private coaching sessions, it offers a way to ease into getting over public speaking fears.

The Speech Team will soon start practicing for the upcoming season hoping to improve upon their already impressive record from last year, placing in every single event at regionals.

“I’m looking forward to the Speech Team carrying on its glorious tradition in the 2015/2016 school year,” head coach Liz Sheehan says, “We’ve got an exciting, talented group of kids, that I can’t wait to get to work with.”

The Speech Team meets every Tuesday in room 208. If you have any questions, talk to Sheehan in the English Department.