(Atlantic) Atlantic High School Speech and Debate Coach and Spanish Teacher Trisha Niceswanger has been recognized by the House of Representatives as the Iowan of the Week.
Niceswanger has worked for the Atlantic Community School District for eight years. Twenty-eight of her Speech Students received Division I ratings at the District contest. Superintendent Steve Barber says, “Representative Cindy Axne nominated her and I think they passed it on the floor. She was recognized for the great work she’s done with our Individual and Group Speech. Not only Trisha Niceswanger, but Brandon Baggett works with that group too. We’ve grown that activity greatly over the last few years and Trisha has had a lot do do with that.”
The following release was issued on March 25th:
Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of Representatives to join me in recognizing Trisha Niceswanger, a teacher and Speech & Debate coach at Atlantic High School, as our Iowan of the Week.
Speech & Debate teams provide high school students with incredible skills that can be applied everywhere in the real world, like public speaking, speech writing, performance, and self-confidence. It also teaches students how to build perspective, prepare formal remarks, and think critically about how they portray themselves and their message. These life skills and abilities have never been more crucial than they are today, and it takes someone truly special to be able to successfully show our students what they are capable of. That is why, today, I am so proud to be honoring Trisha Niceswanger for her work and dedication as the Speech & Debate coach for Atlantic High School.
Trisha has been at Atlantic High School for 8 years. She not only serves as the Speech & Debate coach, but she also serves Atlantic High School as a Spanish teacher. No matter the capacity she is working in, she is always finding ways to teach and inspire our future generations to realize their own potential. Trisha co-coaches the Speech & Debate team, with her primary focus being on coaching the Individual and Large Group Speech teams. This year, during the Individual Speech season, 28 of Trisha’s students received Division 1 ratings at the District Speech competition. This rating automatically advanced those students to the State Speech competition. Of those 28 students, 8 were freshmen. Ultimately, this year Trisha coached 3 students, 1 freshman and 2 juniors, who were nominated for the All-State Speech competition taking place on March 28th at the University of Northern Iowa.
Trisha’s clear leadership in her role as the Speech & Debate coach has not only produced outstanding results, but she’s also notable because of the impact she makes on her students. Trisha participated in Speech & Debate when she was in high school, and it showed her that these competitions are much more than standing up and talking. She coaches her students through the performance of speech, and how every category within the competition caters to unique strengths we all have within us. Review or Spontaneous Speaking can be for students who thrive in analytical or argumentative settings, while Poetry or Prose allows students to tap into illustrations and emotions through words. Trisha helps guide these students to find the strengths they carry as people, and when students realize these strengths, she sees the impact it has on every one of them.
Trisha says the most fulfilling aspect of the work she does is seeing students try something new and come out of their shell. Speech & Debate can be a daunting activity for students to try out. It puts the student in the spotlight, especially for Individual Speech, where students perform solo. But as Trisha helps her students find their voice in an area that sparks their passion, she sees them gain more and more confidence in themselves as she coaches them through a particular piece.
The work Trisha does is not just about performing well at a competition. She genuinely cares about her students as people and wants to see them thrive after they graduate high school. Trisha teaches her students so much about themselves and the impact they can have on people using Speech & Debate. Her dedication to the students of her community is truly inspiring, and it is why I am honored to name Trisha Niceswanger as this week’s Iowan of the Week
