Advantage Communications will start a new speech summer camp in the Peoria Public School District as they wind down their second official year of speech and debate programs in Peoria.
CEO of Advantage Communications Sal Tinajero is a Bradley University graduate, and upon starting his company in California, he knew he would return to Peoria to implement his speech programs.
The programs are district-funded, and allow for all students who want to participate to have access to their resources.
Tinajero said these summer programs will change the trajectory of students’ learning.
“The summer program is the great equalizer. Students who go to a good solid summer program start the school year at the same level that most without a program are in December, so it gives them about a three month head start,” he said.
Peoria Public Schools program director Mariela Garcia-Alvarado said the academic improvements in students enrolled in speech are significant, and their performance is opening doors to their future careers.
“We're able to have them start reading at a higher level. Each script that is given to a student is really challenging them to go beyond the reading level that they're doing at school,” she said. “So some of the events that the students are doing are some of the scripts that the students are doing are actually considered more high school or even college content. And they're able to read it when they're in fourth or fifth grade.”
The accelerated learning taking place in these speech programs is also helping students gain reputations with colleges. Tinajero said they invite college and university scouts to watch their tournaments, and often these scouts are able to connect with students at the middle school level.
“They're looking for regional diversity, ethnic diversity and socio-economic diversity,” Tinajero said. “But they also know that students that go through our program are also well trained, and they're well trained for the college level of forensics of speech and debate.”
Coaches and those working for Advantage Communications are able to contribute to and watch students train and gain new skills.
Peoria Public School District's Coach of the Year, Niles Jones, is a music teacher at Annie Jo Gordon Community Learning Center. Jones said one of his primary jobs as a speech coach is to motivate students and push them out of their comfort zone.
“I think that we are embarking on a wonderful discovery with these kids in speech and debate,” Jones said. “I think that this is a wonderful program to get involved in in the community and seeing where this can take our students moving forward in the next is five to 10 years.”
Coaches take their students through a year of competitions between schools of the Peoria Public School District. Advantage Communications opens up the judging of these competitions to anyone interested in speech and debate, and has visited Bradley University to ask students to judge as well.
Bryce Dalle is a senior Psychology and Spanish double major at Bradley, and he is currently interning with Advantage Communications. Dalle judges competitions in both English and Spanish, and he regularly works with middle school students from several Peoria public schools.
Dalle said when he judges competitions, he is responsible for leaving two positive comments and two comments about how students can improve their performance.
“I love working with kids. Pediatric psych is what I'm going into as a career in the future. But it's been absolutely incredible watching the kids especially evolve with the scripts that they have. And it's just been awesome to see,” he said.
One of the students that Dalle works with, Jenyfer Ibarra, is a seventh grade student at Annie Jo Gordon Community Learning Center. Ibarra was also one of the students that attended a speech competition in California in February.
She said joining speech and debate has helped her gain confidence when public speaking or speaking to new people.
“I did have social anxiety. So this helps me a lot to go and talk to people. What I would advise is that [new students] feel empowered about themselves and maybe feel comfortable around [new people],” Ibarra said.
To learn more about Peoria 150's Speech and Debate partners, Advantage Communications, visit: advantagespeechanddebate.org.
If you would like to find out if your child's school offers speech and debate, email the District Director, Mariela Garcia-Alvarado at mariela.garcia-alvarado@psd150.org.
For private speech and debate services, call Advantage Communications at (714) 248-6117.
